


Commitment

by Likeitmatters



Series: The Chronicles of Kip and Lia [2]
Category: Original Work, Original characters - Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, F/F, Girl Penis, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:08:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 44,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7804783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likeitmatters/pseuds/Likeitmatters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Clarity.  A new and dangerous enemy has emerged threatening the peaceful existence of the colonies and it falls to Kip to lead her colony into battle.  Will the commitment and sacrifices she makes be enough to save her family and her colony's way of life and perhaps very existence?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. House of Holt

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, I think this one will be a bit of an epic. It will be suspenseful, heart wrenching and violent, but worth the read (I hope). Feel free to comment. They really do help keep me motivated to write for you all. 
> 
> Here's a nice happy, light chapter with a bit of sexy time though to get us started.

**Chapter 1**

Kip barely gets her boots off before a screaming four month old is thrust into her hands. She watches with amusement as Lia, holding little Risa, trots back to the master bedroom where she hears an impressive wail come from Claran. “Welcome home, Alpha!” Lia throws over her shoulder. Kip just shakes her head and chuckles.

 

She then gets a whiff of the one she’s holding and stretches her arms out, walking straight to the pups’ nursery and sets about unpinning the diaper, pulling out a rag from the basket and dipping it in the wash basin next to the changing table.

 

“Wow, Critter, you might be small, but your poops pack a punch.” She chuckles as she cleans up the squirming pup and fixes him with a new, clean diaper.

 

“Much better, little one. I missed you guys.” She coos and tickles his little belly, making him smile.

 

“He’s probably hungry too.” She hears called out from across the living room.

 

She begins to unbutton her shirt and pull up her undershirt and bra when Lia comes in and Kip gets a good look at her with her stringy hair pulled up in a messy bun and dried stains all over the front of her dress. She has one pup on each hip and looks absolutely frazzled.

 

“You look beautiful.” Kip hears tumble out of her mouth. She smiles sheepishly when Lia looks down at herself and guffaws.

 

“I guess a week out in the wilderness training soft paws makes you miss the chaos that is your House of Holt.” Lia laughs as she saunters over to lean down and kiss her mate she hasn’t seen for a week.

 

She pulls back and nods at Kip to continue starting to feed Crit and she does so, leaning back in the chair and smiling up at her mate.

 

“You are something else.” Lia says with awe. “One minute you are out showing people how to fight and defend themselves and the next you are breast feeding your pup. Such a show off.” Lia chuckles as she settles first Risa then Claran down for a nap in their cribs.

 

Kip hears the pride in her voice and looks down at her young pup, suckling away, not a care in the world. She hopes to keep it that way.

 

“Well, you are my hero for taking care of these wild pups for an entire week on your own.” Kip says, just as proud of her mate. They look at each other for a few moments just taking in each other’s missed presence when Lia asks about training.

 

“Well I did have some help from Jia.” Lia shrugs off. “How are the soft paws shaping up?” Lia asks.

 

“Remarkably well, considering what we started with!” Kip chuckles. “As you know, they were the first we decided to train since they had so much to learn, but a lot of them are showing real aptitude with the bows, crossbows. Some are even showing promise with explosives.” Kip replies.

 

It was her idea to train up the tradesmen and women on a volunteer basis whose jobs were normally clerical and indoor, just so they could be as prepared as possible. When news came that the outsiders were growing in numbers and were now taking over some colonies and staying for spells of time, there was an increasing urgency to be prepared for all worse case scenarios. And at this new development, they had made training of ‘soft paws’ mandatory.

 

They were assembling quite an army of on-call militia and also an impressive stockpile of weapons. When the time came to make their move, they would have maximum numbers. The only point all colonies had yet to agree on was when that time should be. Most of the farther west colonies, such as Dakota, of course voted to go on the offensive sooner rather than later as they would be first hit. Kip and Cal think they have a good plan though and will be sharing it with the other colony leaders during their next meeting.

 

“Will you be teaching _me_ anything?” Lia asks, already guessing the answer. She knows once the confrontation starts, she’ll be here with the pups and other Omegas and Betas and their pups and babies, sequestered away somewhere safe.

 

“What would you like to learn?” Kip asks, surprising the Omega. She hadn’t expected that question to her question and she thought for a few seconds before giving her answer.

 

“I would love to learn how to shoot a crossbow.” She beams.

 

“Of course you would.” Kip chuckles, remembering Lia’s fascination with the weapon when she’d come into the shop as Kip was building one a month ago.

 

Kip looks down at a now sleeping Crit and begins to put him on her shoulder to burp him.

 

“I got him.” Lia says and gently takes him from the Alpha’s chest, accidently brushing her sensitive nipple. Kip pulls in a sharp breath and Lia’s eyes widen as she puts Crit on her shoulder.

 

“Sensitive, huh?” Lia teases, knowing that she’d gone without a baby suckling at them for a week.

 

“Finish burping him and meet me in the bedroom when he’s down.” Kip commands with a raised eyebrow. A sharp, delicious tingle runs from Lia’s heart down to the apex of her thighs.

 

“Yes, Alpha.” She says, trying to hold in an excited grin. They had not been intimate since before the pups were born as Lia healed and Kip had been busy with the shop and training.

 

 

 

When she comes back in, Kip is running a bath and is stripping out of her clothes. Lia does the same and waits for Kip to get in first.

 

“Turn around, let me see you.” Kip says, arousal evident in her tone.

 

Lia slowly turns, a bit self-conscious. Giving birth to three pups tends to change one’s body. But at 19, her body has done a good job of bouncing back pretty well.

 

“I missed you so much. You are so beautiful.” Kip says, her voice sweet and tender. Lia knows she’s referring to more than their week apart. She turns to face her Alpha, walking slowly to the tub and getting in, settling against Kip’s chest.

 

“The little ones run you ragged?” Kip asks lightly as she takes a cloth and begins running it over Lia’s arms, shoulders and then thighs.

 

“Nothing I couldn’t handle with a bit of help. I did go to bed as soon as they did each night, though.” Lia chuckles, remembering how exhausted she was and the fact she’d have to be up in 3-4 hours to feed them again. “Feeding was a challenge, but I did have a wet nurse come in one night and of course Jia came over a few times.” Lia says closing her eyes and resting her head on Kip’s collarbone.

 

“What is the latest on the outsiders?” Lia asks, changing the subject. She feels Kip take in a deep breath and frowns.

 

“We are almost ready. We need to move on them soon. They are growing in size. A few advantages we have is the element of surprise and we are pretty sure some of their army are conscripted from colonies they’ve attacked.

 

“Is there a timeline yet?” Lia presses.

 

Kip wraps her arms around her Omega and begins to nibble on her ear. She doesn’t want to discuss the impending conflict any more, it would just pull her out of the small amount of peace she’s finding right now with her mate.

 

Lia tilts her head as Kip’s lips move from her ear down her neck and top of her shoulder, effectively ending their conversation. Lia brings her hands to Kip’s arms, bringing them around her. Kip squeezes her gently, just under her swollen breasts and continues her lip, teeth and tongue assault on her neck as one of her hands wanders down to between Lia’s legs.

 

“You all healed up?” Kip asks quietly between gentle bites. Lia nods her head and guides Kip’s long fingers to her clit. The Alpha is rewarded with a gasp and then a moan that stirs her cock to life.

 

She continues kissing her Omega as her fingers expertly bring her to orgasm. Lia turns her head to meet her Alpha’s lips as she shutters quietly, the water gently lapping around them as she gyrates her hips, riding out her ecstasy.

 

“Feel good?” Kip husks out as she draws lazy circles at Lia’s entrance.

 

“You know it does, Alpha.” Lia replies with a smile on her lips. After a few moments, she turns and kneels between her mate’s legs, leaning in and pressing a deep tongue kiss to her mouth as both her arms go to the edge of the tub next to Kip’s shoulders.

 

Kip slides down a bit and begins rubbing her cock until it is nice and hard. Lia adjusts her legs until her knees are spread and up against the outside of Kip’s hips. Kip continues the kiss as her hands go to Lia’s ass, guiding her forward until her tip is at her entrance.

 

She stills her hands, waiting for Lia to take her in at her pace, which she does slowly until she’s all the way in. Kip’s head falls back and hits the edge of the tub with a dull thud as her face splits into a silly, pleasure-filled grin, making Lia giggle.

 

She picks her head up though and her eyes go dark, making Lia swallow her giggle immediately. It turns into a light cry as Kip pushes up, getting nice and deep.

 

“I missed being inside you, Omega.” She intones as she starts moving her hips. Lia helps by coming down on her and they start up an easy rhythm, looking into each other’s eyes, marveling at the pleasure they are giving and receiving from each other.

 

Lia wraps her arms around the Alpha’s shoulders and begins bouncing lightly, mindful of the water in the tub beginning to make bigger and bigger waves.

Soon they are both moaning and panting as Kip takes one of Lia’s breasts roughly with her mouth, sucking and tasting the sweet, warm milk. She lets go with a tug, making Lia cry out and her hands go to her hips guiding her up and down more urgently as she begins to feel her orgasm start.

 

“Yes, Kip.” Lia breathes out against her Alpha’s lips as she sees her eyes close and her breathing coming in short grunts.

 

Suddenly, Kip stills and Lia’s eyes widen. “Is your heat…” Kip starts, but Lia just shakes her head vehemently and begins pushing down on Kip’s cock with fervor.

 

“Not for another month or two. No knotting though, pups can wake up at any moment.” Lia gets out through her own grunts of pleasure.

 

“K.” Kip grunts as she drops a fist down to the base of her cock, not allowing her knot to enter Lia. After a few more thrusts, she’s coming hard and rather loudly, prompting Lia to cover her mouth with her own to quiet her.

 

They stay locked like that until Lia takes her own orgasm from milking Kip’s cock before it goes soft.

 

When both have stopped shuttering and gasping they rest their foreheads together and each lets out a deep, sated sigh that has them both laughing.

 

“I love you, Kip.” Lia says lightly, kissing her nose. Kip wraps her arms around her Omega, squeezing her close as she feels her soft cock slip out of her.

 

“I love you, too… so much.” Kip whispers in her ear and pulls back, eyes shining.


	2. Harder

“We need to strike them now!” Elder Booth shouts as his hand smashes down on the table. No one jumps though. They are used to his outbursts.

“We need to go at it prepared. We are not there yet.” Elder Jans says calmly. He’s an old Alpha and he’s also from one of the eastern colonies.

 

“We have the numbers!” Booth counters and more than a few people nod, agreeing.

 

“We don’t know what their weapons cache is. We are going in with spears, arrows and basic explosive devices. They have guns. We have one shot at this.” Kip speaks up.

 

Chase stands. So far he’s been receptive to all that Kip has to say. He respects her and knows that she’s been speaking with Cal, who perhaps knows more than all of them combined about this threat.

 

“Then we need to find out.” He says simply.

 

“Exactly.” Kip says, nodding at her kin-in-law. “Cal and I want to send an advance group. A small one. They will get all the information they can and report back. Then we will formulate a solid plan and a date.”

 

Elder Booth gives Chase a withering glare, but nods slowly. He senses that this is what all the other elders want. To go in without this information could result in hundreds of colonists’ deaths. But he cannot fathom the alternative of them waiting until it is too late.

 

“Who will be in this advanced party?” Jans asks.

 

“Cal and I. We should have two others.” Kip answers quickly. She looks at Cal who nods. This was their plan to begin with.

 

“I’ll go.” Chase says and Kip nods, knowing the Alpha would be willing.

 

“I’ll go as well.” A large female Alpha with long, wild black hair and piercing gray eyes says from the end of the table.

 

Kip had hoped the Alpha from their northernmost colony would volunteer. So far she’d done more listening than talking and asked good questions and seemed to have a very level head throughout the meetings the last couple of months.

 

“Excellent. Our group will then be me, Cal, Chase and Klekut.” Kip confirms. They put it to a quick counsel vote and then excuse themselves to get down to planning their reconnaissance mission.

 

When they adjourn for the night, Kip’s father is waiting for her outside.

 

“Elder Clya has a lot of faith in you.” The older Alpha says as he falls in step with her. She looks up at him as he looks back down to his boots. “It is completely founded, you know.” He says, finally turning to look her in the eye with a proud half smile. As her father and someone in line to become an Elder in the next season as well, his words carry a lot of weight.

 

“I will do my best for the colony, Father.” She says solemnly. He nods and stops her before they part ways.

 

“In that I have no doubt. Even though you are only 19 summers old, you are a born leader, Kip. You are a strong, brave Alpha who I know everyone will turn to in times of crisis. I’m proud to call you my daughter, and I know Mother would be so proud of you right now as well.” He says with a warm smile as he squeezes her shoulder and then turns to the path that will lead him to his home, disappearing in the darkness of the moonless night.

 

…

 

“What?! NO!” Lia cries, in turn making Risa, whom she is just finishing breastfeeding, cry as well.

 

Kip leans in to take the pup, putting her over her shoulder as Lia quickly pulls her shirt together, buttoning it.

 

“It’s enough that you are gone training everyone! Why do _you_ have to go!” Lia continues with tears starting now.

 

Kip takes a deep breath as she pats the four month old, trying to calm her as she tries to talk to her mate. She knew she wouldn’t like the news, but she didn’t anticipate this strong of a reaction.

 

“When Elder Clya asked me to take lead, she made me our representative in this multi-colony endeavor. I have to go. Chase and Cal are coming as well. We also have a volunteer from Cascade, a giant Alpha…” Kip begins, but Lia just stands and goes into the nursery.

 

Kip sighs deeply and gets up to follow her, now that Risa is calmed.

 

“Lia, I’m going. Please don’t make it harder for me than it already is.” Kip says in a quiet voice to her mate’s back as she refuses to turn around.

 

At this she does turn though and ushers her out of the nursery with a now awake Critter in her arms.

 

“Harder for YOU?!” She whisper shouts in disbelief.

 

Kip takes a deep breath. She really hadn’t anticipated Lia being so upset and is at a loss as to how to calm her.

 

“Look, I’ll have Jia stay with you to help out.” Kip replies evenly, beginning to lose patience with her mate.

 

Lia rolls her eyes and takes Critter into their bedroom. If it wasn’t for her having to breastfeed him, Kip’s pretty sure she would have stormed out of the house.

 

She decides to give her mate the space she’s created between them as she goes to lie Risa down and pick up Claran who is up now, babbling in his crib.

 

She looks down at his slightly upturned nose and light brown hair and bright, brown eyes, a perfect combination of her and Lia. She grins at him and tickles his belly and settling down in the nursing chair and lifting her shirt up.

 

She doesn’t want to leave her family. Not only will she be gone for the better part of two weeks, she has no idea what she’ll encounter as they trek the western part of the territory to where the outsiders’ last known location was. She has no what to expect when they do find them either. All she knows from Cal and the newsletter he had was that they were a particularly nasty bunch led by an Alpha named Rett with guns and ability to manufacture ammo. What if they are discovered while trying to find out the information they need? What if they find that their army has grown even more and it will be absolutely suicidal to go against them?

 

She presses her head back against the chair and closes her eyes as Claran continues to feed, deep in thought.

 

…

 

It takes three days to plan their mission and gather supplies. Lia spends those three days only communicating with Kip when necessary. The cold shoulder is tolerated only because she doesn’t have time to address it between training meetings and helping with the pups to assuage her own guilt and sadness over leaving her family. But she knows she has no choice. She must go so they know exactly what they will be dealing with.

 

 

The night before they are to head out, Kip watches the Omega slide into bed and turn away from her onto her side. She reaches an arm out and begins to pull her towards her. When Lia stiffens and tries to pull away, Kip refuses to let her. She tightens her grip so that it is almost painful and whispers harshly into Lia’s ear. “Do not forget who the Alpha is here.”

 

Kip has never invoked her status with Lia and it shocks the fight right out of her. Kip feels it and softens instantly.

 

“Talk to me.” She says gently.

 

“I did not have pups with you only to be raising them alone.” She says, her voice void of emotion.

 

“I have no intention of you raising them alone.” Kip answers back in the same tone. She pulls back and presses on Lia’s shoulder until she is turning and facing her.

 

“Do not forget you are bonded with me. _I_ didn’t ask for this position within the colony, it was asked of _me_. I will honor my commitment to protect my colony, because it ultimately means a commitment to protect my family. You, Claran, Risa and Critter are the most important people in my life. Doing this will ensure us the greatest chance at beating this threat and making sure we can raise our family in peace.” Kip says solemnly.

 

Lia looks down, sniffling back tears. “I just wish someone else could go.” She says. But she remembers the conversation she’d had with Elder Clya all those months ago. She knew this was Kip’s destiny, and then she’d been proud. Now she was just scared. Scared to be alone, scared to lose Kip.

 

“I’m going with a great team, Lia. We will just observe and come back to report what we saw. Then we will be better prepared to make sure they do not come near our gates.” She explains with conviction, tilting Lia’s chin up so she can look in her eyes. She doesn’t want to leave with Lia not understanding what is at stake here and why she has to be the one to go. “Please, Lia. Don’t…” Kip gets out before Lia covers her lips with her own. She pulls Kip in close and deepens the kiss until Kip moans into it, so full of emotion it is. When they pull away, breathless, Lia caresses Kip’s cheek gently.

 

“Please be careful, then. Your little ones will miss you.” She says barely above a whisper. “I will miss you.”

 

Kip nods and brushes her nose to Lia’s, something she usually does with the pups and it makes Lia smile.

 

“I promise to be careful. I love you.” She says thickly and pulls Lia into another heated kiss as she rolls atop her, both needing that physical, soul connection that will have to carry them through the coming weeks.

 

…

 

Kip wakes early and dresses, careful not to wake Lia. She goes into the nursery and stands at the door, smiling at her three pups, all peacefully asleep. She wishes she could pick each one up and snuggle them, but doesn’t want to disturb their sleep, or Lia’s, as they’d said their goodbyes late the night before, tangled and sweaty in each other’s arms.

 

She goes back into her bedroom and slips a note onto Lia’s bedside table and kisses her forehead lightly before grabbing her bag and heading quietly out the door.

 

 

She meets up with Rya as she nears the gate where she’ll meet the rest of the group.

 

“Good luck, sister.” He says and reaches his forearm out which she takes in a strong grip.

 

“Thanks, Rya.” She says with a warm, brief smile. “Can you check in…” She begins to ask when he pats her arm.

 

“Of course I’ll check in on Lia and your pups. I know Sada will visit each day to make sure she’s doing alright.” He grins knowingly. She nods and looks down at her feet.

 

“I appreciate it, Brother.” She says and makes her way to the gate entrance, looking back one last time towards her shop and her home.

 

“Ready?” Chase asks as he approaches her with her horse’s lead.

 

“Yep.” She answers, giving a nod to Cal and Klecut who are already mounted.

 

The two mount up and turn towards the rising sun, eager and nervous to find out just what they are up against.


	3. Well, You Just Might Get One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all. I'm going to be honest here... I'm really losing motivation to write. I have an idea where I want to take the story, but I'm having a super hard time getting thoughts to text... Not even sure anyone is reading any more. If you are, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just take a hiatus from it and perhaps pick it back up eventually.

After waking to an empty bed and spending a few minutes having a good cry after reading Kip’s brief but sweet letter, Lia gets herself up, dresses, changes and feeds the pups and puts them in their little wagon that Kip had fashioned with some furs and padding around the edges so she could take the pups out for a stroll or to do her shopping.

 

They were always an attention grabber as she pulled them through the finally dry, hard packed road that led through the center of the colony. She’d stop by the dry goods shop and the farmer’s market, making sure to build in time for all the shopkeepers to come out and hold, tickle and play with the little ones.

 

“Goodness, Risa looks so much like you!” Maggie, the dry goods shopkeeper would announce pretty much any time she’d bring them by. With her dark, almost black hair coming in thick and her little heart shaped jaw and chocolate brown eyes, she looks like a mini Lia.

 

Claran was pretty much all Kip with his light brown hair, bright green eyes and dimples and Critter of course the one who looked like both.

They were all adorable and as Lia is finding out each day, are going to be quite a handful.

 

“You’re going to need to put a roof on that thing to keep them in soon.” The shopkeeper laughs as she bends down to put Claran back on the furs. He whimpers a bit at being put down, but quiets down once he hears his mother’s voice.

 

“I know. I think I’ll have Kip put in some little seats once they can sit up. Then I can tie them in.” Lia chuckles as she puts her goods into the basket attached to the front of the wagon.

 

At the mention of Kip, Maggie’s bright smile turns into look of sympathy. The colonists are well aware of the threat looming and the fact that Clya had made Kip an important part in preparing them all for what was to come.

 

“We’re so glad to have Kip. She has been so good with training my son, Jag too. He’s learned so much. Things I wished he didn’t have to, but I’m glad…” Her lips form a grim smile when the rest of her words fail her. Lia nods, thinking she understands. No one wants to think of their way of life as potentially being under siege. Not since the early days when society was just beginning to rebuild had there been a formidable threat to multiple colonies.

 

“Do you know anything about this… army?” She asks, thinking Lia might have some insight.

 

“Not a whole lot more than anyone else really.” She hedges. Kip had told her the extent of what she knew, which had been a lot less than she was comfortable with of course. Another reason that Kip wanted to lead this scouting mission. She hated not knowing things like where they came from and their motives and ultimately what they wanted to gain from going colony to colony on a slow march through the middle lands.

 

“Is it true they have guns?” She asks nervously. Kip had wondered if that rumor had found its way around. Apparently it had.

 

“I think so.” Lia answers.

 

Both women fall silent, both in their own thoughts. Finally Risa begins to fret and Lia takes that as her cue to begin moving.

 

“Will you keep me updated?” The shopkeeper asks as Lia thanks her and begins to pull the wagon back onto the path.

 

“I will.” She says with a nod.

 

…

 

“The elders in my colony are trying to convince the Klondike colony to send a dozen of their best warriors.” Klekut says to Kip as they near the small mountain range they must cross. They plan to camp at the base and get an early start in the morning.

 

“That would be much appreciated.” Kip answers. From what Klekut has told them about the northern colonies, they have a lot more territorial skirmishes between themselves and are well versed in combat and strategy.

 

“We in the north love a good fight.” She chuckles lightly and it makes Kip smile for a moment. She wishes she could adopt such a cavalier attitude towards confrontation. But in truth she’s scared to death. It’s one thing to defend oneself or defend a loved one from a couple of people, it’s a whole other to lead the charge to defend an entire colony. But her elders and colony trusted her to lead them, and she’d do just that to the best of her ability.

 

“Well, you might just get one.” Kip replies as she taps Marshall with the reigns to quicken their pace.

 

…

 

It has been a week since Kip has left and although Lia knows she won’t be back for at least another week, she finds herself looking towards the gate entrance whenever she’s out and about and whenever someone comes stomping up their front deck, her heart always skips a beat.

 

She can tell the pups miss their matra too. They get restless around the time that Kip is usually due home from the shop and it takes her an extra hour to get them all calmed down, not to mention the extra challenge it is to feed them all when the wet nurse isn’t able to come by. She’ll be happy when they can begin eating solid foods in a few weeks.

 

She finds herself going to visit Sada daily to see if she can catch Rya to see if there is any news. She supposes no news is good news as they would surely hear from other colonies had they run into any trouble. Still she’s a bit desperate for word and Rya can tell she’s a bit anxious.

 

“You shouldn’t worry about Kip. She really knows how to take care of herself.” Rya says one evening as they sit around the fire after just having dinner that Sada had insisted she and the little ones stay for. It was a lot, having five pups in the house at the same time and being six months pregnant with her second litter, but she could sense that her sister-in-law needed the company.

 

“I know. She’s very capable, I just…” Lia starts, looking down at her and Kip’s pups.

 

“You miss her.” Sada supplies with a warm smile. Lia looks down at her hands, smiling shyly and nods.

 

“You know, those first few weeks, I thought for sure you’d run off and break her heart.” Rya says not unkindly.

 

Lia looks up at him with a contrite expression. “I thought about it. I was so naïve and scared.” She says, remembering back to that time, not all that long ago. It feels like a lifetime though.

 

“But you didn’t. I can see how much you love her now.” He says, smiling that smile that reminds her so much of her mate.

 

“Very much.” She says quietly, a bit reluctant to talk about her feelings for her mate with her brother.

 

“And she absolutely worships you and adores these little rugrats.” He says with a chuckle as they watch them roll around with his two older pups.

 

“That is very true.” She says joining in on laughing at the antics of their pups.

 

…

 

“What can you see Klekut?” Kip asks impatiently. They’d spent half the morning carefully making their way to a good vantage point once they’d found out where the army was settled. Cal recognized their hunting marks on the trees and they knew without a doubt they were in the right place.

 

Klekut spends a good minute or two looking through the spyglass, sweeping from one end of the colony to the next.

“Three watch towers. Ten foot fence surrounding colony. Looks fairly new. Buildings look pretty substantial. Some brick and mortar buildings in the back. I see a lot of men, but not any women or children out and about.” She says, taking the spyglass down and handing it to Kip.

 

Kip scrambles up to the top position, not too tall and puts it to her eye. She sees the brick and mortar buildings and a series of large animal hide tents as well. The absence of women and children are either a good sign, or a very bad sign.

 

“Where do you think the kids are? The women?” Kip turns to ask the rest of the group as she hands the glass over to Cal so he can get a look. Chase shrugs and Cal looks pensive as he puts the spyglass to his eye. Kip looks at him expectantly.

 

“Could be they moved them. Put them in a more secure area.” He ventures as he continues peering through the glass.

 

“Or?” Kip prods, knowing he’s holding something back.

 

“They’ve had them rounded up, taken back to where they came from.” He says cautiously.

 

“And _where_ did they come from?” Kip asks in a measured tone. This is information that Cal had not offered up at any of the meetings they’ve had and she’s wondering why he’s doing it now.

 

He hands the spyglass to Chase and slides down into a seated position so Chase can get a look. Kip watches him closely, her anger beginning to surface at him holding out information.

 

He’s about to speak when they hear a loud roar. Kip, Klekut and Chase take cover, never having heard that sound in their lives, but Cal just climbs up to the ledge and looks over cautiously, confirming what he figures is the sound of a large vehicle engine.

 

“Hell.”

 

 


	4. Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for responding with words of encouragement! It helps (a lot) to know people are still reading and enjoying. Here is a short but info packed chapter.

After the three watch in rapt attention as the vehicle with giant black tires moves quickly and nimbly through the colony gates and away towards the forest, they turn their attention on Cal.

 

“Was that a truck?” Chase asks with wide eyes. Cal nods.

 

“And what do you mean they come from ‘Hell’?” Kip asks with a mix of trepidation and waning patience. She knows the word from reading about ancient biblical terms while in school.

 

Cal takes a deep breath. Once he knew he'd found the right people, he knew he'd have to reveal the rest of his story. He hopes the trust he’s built over the last few months can withstand what he’s about to confess.

 

“The men that Rett lead are all outcasts from colonies along the western lands. They are the murderers, rapists, undesirables that were exiled from their own colonies. Rett gave them a place to call their own. Hell’s Colony.” Cal begins. He slides a bit away and rests his hand on his pack, where his rifle is. If things go bad, he’ll have no choice but to defend himself.

 

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now.” Kip grinds out as she reaches into her back pocket and pulls her knife. Cal is faster though and his rifle is out and pointed at her chest before she can shift her stance. Her eyes widen in disbelief and anger.

 

“Hear me out, Kip, please.” He says with slight desperation as he backs up a bit more to keep Klekut and Chase in his line of sight. Both are keen on charging him, but they stay put, not wanting to risk Kip being shot before they get to him.

 

Kip knows she has no choice but to listen. She nods and looks at Klekut and Chase to stand down. They remain in position.

 

“Micah and I were kicked out of Big Horn for being together. That is all true. We were taken in by Rhett during a fierce winter storm. We would have died had his men not found us.” He says, thinking back to that harrowing time when he was sure he and Micah were going to freeze to death, not used to being out in the elements and with no means to build enough of a shelter to keep warm.

 

“At first, Micah and I had thought we’d finally found a home. They didn’t care that we were together, we just had to pull our weight.” He recalls, but then shakes his head. “But Rett… he was so bitter and angry at being exiled from what he knew, as were all of us. He wanted for us all to exact revenge and had planned it for a long time once he had enough able-bodied alphas. We felt obligated to go because he saved us, you know? We had no idea what his ultimate motive was. The first colony we hit of course was his own.” Cal recalls as his eyes grow distant, reliving the memory.

 

“There were 20 of us at the time. Rett said he’d wanted to get his revenge on the magistrate and the witnesses who lied about what had happened, that he’d killed an elder in cold blood. I believed him, until we got to the colony. He ordered us to kill the magistrate, the magistrate’s entire family and the witnesses and their families as well. We’d left with all of their winter food stock and medicine. We’d learn this later, but before he left, he went and killed his own mate and all of their pups for not wanting to be exiled with him.”

 

Chase shakes his head slowly. “Why should we take your word for any of this?”

 

“Because you need to understand what kind of people we are dealing with!” Cal says as loud as he dares. “I know you think you can’t trust me now, but it’s why we stopped and warned you, Kip. Micah and I aren’t like… those men. They plan on setting up their own colonies. That’s why they’ve been going around to the colonies. They strip them of their resources and forcefully recruit in the process. They don’t plan to live there peacefully with just a few dozen alpha men. They want women, child bearing age omegas especially.” He says, staring at Kip pointedly.

 

She lets out a breath and nods at his rifle. “Is that how they acquired the weapons? The truck?” She asks. Cal, as if just realizing he was still holding the gun at Kip’s chest, lowers it, but doesn’t put it down. Kip takes a slightly relieved breath, but she keeps her knife gripped tight.

 

“A large colony along the mountains in the northwest had them. It was run by a few descendants of this family that had been bringing back some of the advances of the 21st century in hopes to make things available to other colonies for trade. They had weapons, they had a small manufacturing plant that were making those utility trucks, they had electricity, phones, medical equipment…” Cal says, still remembering seeing all of these things in wonder.

 

When he grows silent, Kip looks at him. “And?” She asks.

 

“One of Rett’s men had been exiled from there and he knew how to get into the colony undetected. We ambushed them. They didn’t know what hit them. They may have had guns, but they were all stored away in one place. Rett and a dozen of his most ruthless men got to them first. They put up a fight until Rett made an example of the elder’s omega daughters.”

 

The trio didn’t need to ask what had happened to the omegas. It was written all over Cal’s face. “That is when we left, in the dead of night with what we could carry, and this rifle.” He says as he lays it down now.

 

Klekut quickly grabs it as Kip rushes Cal, putting the knife to his throat. “If you have anything else to tell us, now’s the time. If I even _think_ your lying, I’ll slit your throat.” She growls.

 

Cal just looks at her, eyes solemn as he gives her an almost imperceptible nod. She backs away a bit and looks at him for a long second.

 

“How long ago did you leave Rett’s army?” She asks.

 

“A month before we met up with you. We just started heading east, where we knew Rett’s army would eventually head.” He answers quickly. “We’ve been watching the colonies in your area. Seeing who could put up an actual fight if properly warned.” He adds.

 

“Why did you wait so long to tell us the truth?” Chase asks. Kip wants to correct him on using the word _truth_ , but remains quiet.

 

“I had to make sure you all had the means and numbers needed to defeat him before I told you exactly what you would be up against. I wasn’t sure you’d believe me if you didn’t see for yourselves.” He explains, gesturing over the ridge.

 

“And you think we do. Can we defeat them?” Kip asks, her eyes searching his. He is their best asset, she knows, and has no choice but to believe him at this point, if only for her own sanity and own hope that she could protect her colony, her family.

 

“I’ll need a better look at their numbers here, but I know they have their weapons spread out. The colony I just talked about, Mountain Gate, Rett is establishing that one as their main colony, so I imagine they left some men and weapons there. They also have a few occupying Hell. It’s where they take the women and children first.” He says, swallowing hard.

 

“So this is like their advance army? The one that moves in and attacks other colonies?” Klekut asks. Cal nods.

 

“Why do you even care to stop them?” Kip asks after a few seconds of silence.

 

“I know our colony, Big Horn, which is extremely small, will be hit eventually as it is between here and your colonies. We may have been exiled, but all of our families are still there…” He says, eyes down. “You’ve spent four months with Micah and I. You _know_ we are _not_ like them. The things they’ve done… Had us do…” He says, clearly shaken by his past.

 

Klekut puts a hand on his back, her gesture at first looking comforting. She gets close down near his ear though, and her voice is anything but comforting. “You and I are going to go down there and get a closer look. You are not out of the woods yet with us. If you compromise this mission in any way, I’ll make sure Micah pays dearly.”

 

Cal looks straight ahead, listening to every word and then nodding slowly. He knew he took a big risk in telling them everything out here where they could have easily killed him without anyone knowing, but it is not lost on anyone that if he were lying and was still with Rett, it would be easy to call him and his army out and blow the whole thing up right then and there.

 

“I understand. For what it’s worth, I know I’ve chosen the right people to warn. The way you have gathered the surrounding colonies and organized your people… If only it could have been done sooner, with the colonies that have already fallen…” Cal says earnestly, and with real regret, looking right at Kip.

 

She searches his eyes, seeing truth in them. The last test will be him going down there with Klekut. She pulls the big alpha aside to talk to her privately.

 

“You sure you want to go down there with him?” She asks.

 

“It is the only way to make sure.” She says matter-of-fact. Kip nods and grasps her forearm. She knows she should volunteer to go in her place, but can’t bring herself to offer. As if the raven-haired alpha is reading her thoughts, she gives Kip a confident grin.

 

“If things go to shit and Cal tips them off, high-tail it back. Only you will be able to tell elder Warren to assemble the northern clans and bring the fight here. These alpha pricks won’t know what hit them.”

 

Kip smiles and shakes her head slowly with respect to Klekut's bravery. “I don’t doubt that, but I don’t think it will come to that. Let’s get what we need here and go back so we can formulate a plan to end this.”


	5. I Hope I Live to Regret This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember those warnings? Well, some apply here. Buckle up.

Lia pulls the wagon with the pups up to Clya and Sheela’s home with an exhausted sigh. She’s instantly greeted at the door as Sheela smiles wide and takes the handle pulling it all the way into the kitchen.

 

“We haven’t had little pups in our home for a long time.” She beams as she reaches down to pick up Crit. Lia smiles tiredly.

 

“Well, you will certainly get your fill for an hour.” Lia comments as she goes to hug Clya. Since the birth of her pups, she and Clya have become really close. _‘After you’ve seen someone go through that, it certainly bonds you.’_ Elder Clya had chuckled when Kip made an observation about it a couple of months ago.

 

“Well, let’s get over to the meeting. Since I’m running it, I should probably be on time.” Clya says, giving her beloved a kiss on the cheek after tweaking Crit’s playfully. Lia reaches into the wagon and caresses Risa and Claran’s little heads and gives Crit a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Thanks for watching them, Sheela. Everything they need is in the bag in front of the wagon.” Lia says sincerely.

 

“Oh please, I’m happy to do it. Don’t worry, I got it covered.” She replies, already turning her attention to the little ones.

 

Lia and Elder Clya are on their way to a meeting with all of the other women so they can go over their plan to move the women and children to a safe place if need be. The hope is that they’ll be able to engage the army away from the colonies, but if for some reason the battle makes its way near, there is a plan to get all the women and children to safety.

 

 

 

“So we’ll be escorted by a dozen or so alphas to the safe house and we must only bring one large bag that we can carry.” Lia confirms.

 

“Yes, we already have our older pups and children filling supply wagons with food and water for everyone for about a week.” Clya tells all the omega and beta women. They nod.

 

“Will there be room for all of us, our pups?” One omega asks. Clya looks at San’s mate, Freya, who was helping to organize it all.

 

“There will be. It will be cozy, but safe. There will be a dozen or so Alphas stationed as guards should we need protection as well.” Adds Clya.

“Will we have to move?” Jia asks.

 

“All non-fighting colonists will be asked to move if the fighting gets too close. All the other colonies are following the same protocols to reduce the risk of collateral damage.” Lia answers. It had been a point of contention between her and Kip before Kip explained she simply would be able to concentrate on fighting if she knew her and the pups were away from the battle area. Jia nods, satisfied with her answer.

 

Two hours of questions and answers later, the meeting adjourns and Lia and Elder Clya make their way back with Sada and Freya.

 

“Do you think it will come to that, having to hide away?” Sada asks. She’s deep into her pregnancy and isn’t sure how she’s going to manage it all with 2 pups.

 

“I hope not, but if it does, we’ve got a solid plan and a well hidden safe house with supplies that can last us for up to a week.” Lia watches her hand go around her belly. “We’ll have plenty of older pups and omegas to help out as well.” Lia smiles reassuringly.

 

The four look up when there’s a commotion at the gate. Lia instantly recognizes Sid, her older brother frantically speaking to one of Huron’s other elders.

 

Clya takes off at a jog towards them and Lia turns to Sada and Jia as she begins to hurry after her. “Get to your homes, I’ll come by if there is any news.” She says quickly, her heart already beginning to pound with trepidation.

…

 

_Two Days Ago…_

 

Kip watches through the spyglass as Klekut and Cal make their way closer to the perimeter of the colony fence. They begin searching for a gap large enough to peer through as Cal watches out for perimeter patrols. She sees Klekut point to a spot and Cal nods. They are not too far from cover in the woods, but Kip doesn’t like how exposed they are walking up to the fence.

She pans the spyglass to the guard towers, making sure they cannot spot them. Not that she could do anything if they did to warn them as it would give away her and Chase’s position too.

 

Suddenly, Kip hears the truck they saw earlier rumbling out of the woods back up the dirt trail. Cal and Klekut try to make their way in a crouch back to the forest, but a patrol happens upon them as they race around to help open the gate.

 

“Dammit!” Kip growls.

 

“What?” Chase asks, alarmed.

 

“They’ve been spotted.” Kip says as she begins to scramble down, grabbing Cal’s rifle.

 

“NO!” Chase says and grabs her, nearly tackling her to the ground. “Think!” He says. She struggles to get out of his grip, so he continues his desperate plea to get her to stay. “If you go down there you’ll be captured or killed as well. Think of your colony, Kip.” He says vehemently. “Think of Lia.”

 

She growls again in anguish and pulls away. He’s ready to grab her again if she moves. She puts a hand up in acquiescence and then goes back to the ridge, grabbing the discarded spyglass.

 

He looks over too, only able to make out rough details because of the distance.

 

She begins reporting what she sees. “They’ve taken them and tied their hands behind them. A big alpha with long hair, a beard is stepping out of the truck.” She says in a hushed monotone. “He just punched Cal and then forced him to his knees…. Looks like he’s talking to Cal now… They are tying their feet… Now dragging them in through the open gates.”

 

“What should we do?” Chase asks as Kip keeps the spyglass pressed to her eye. She watches as they drag Cal and Klekut up onto a wooden platform with a large post in the middle. She swallows hard when she sees a noose put around Klekut’s neck.

 

“They are going to hang Klekut.” Kip says as she lowers the spyglass, eyes wide in disbelief. Chase takes it from her and pans around until he sees the scene.

 

“Oh no.” He breathes out in shock. He continues looking in silence for a few seconds and then quickly turns to Kip. “They are taking Cal off the platform… into a building. They left Klekut there, she’s still alive.”

 

Kip puts her head in her hands for a moment, thinking. Her head pops up after a few seconds. “I’m sure they recognize Cal. They are probably going to try and get him to talk. Chase, you need to get to the colonies. Warn them. If Cal tells them about us, we need to be ready.” She says as she grabs his pack and practically throws it at him. “Take Marshall and Klekut’s horse. Don’t stop until you are at your colony gate. Send word to the rest of the colonies immediately.”

 

“What are you going to do?” He asks as he throws on his pack, knowing time is of the essence.

 

“I’m going to watch here for a little bit longer to see what happens to them… I’ll be right behind you, I swear.” She says solemnly. He looks at her for a long moment.

 

“I won’t leave you behind.” He says.

 

“You aren’t. I just want to see if they begin mustering, maybe I can get an idea of numbers of weapons and men.” She says and grabs his forearm, looking him in the eye. “I promise, I’ll be right behind you. Now go. Get everyone ready to fight.”

 

“No, you go, I’ll stay.” Chase says, adamant.

 

“No, dammit. It’s my responsibility. My call to let them go down there.” She says, eyes filled with anguish.

 

Finally, Chase relents. He knows they don’t have time to argue about it.

 

“If something happens to you Lia will never forgive me. Watch for an hour tops and then you better be caught up with me before sundown.” He demands.

 

“I will.” She nods earnestly. “Now go.”

 

…

 

“I know you and that northern Indian ain’t alone.” Rett says as he pulls a chair up in front of Cal, so close Cal can smell the rotted teeth in the alpha’s mouth. “Talk or that alpha bitch dies and dies slowly.”

 

Cal puts his chin out and looks Rett in the eye. He already knows Klekut is dead, no matter what he says or doesn’t say.

 

“How’s Micah? I’m sure that he’s where ever you came from, sitting, waiting for you to come home?” He says, a disarming half smile spreading across his lips.

 

His defiant look stumbles at the mention of Micah. Rett chuckles.

 

“Shoulda left your weak asses out in the snow. Waste of space. Just so you know, I’ve got trackers mounting up to follow whomever you came out with. Best believe your sweet little mate is going to get it ten times worse than you and that Indian out there.” He chuckles as he gets out of the chair and nods to two hulking alphas.

 

“Sure you ain’t got nothing to say?” He asks again in a jovial tone. Cal knows, no matter what, he’s a dead man. He knows how Rett works. Giving him what he wants will mean a quicker death for him and Klekut, but it will also mean a slim chance for survival for the colonies or Micah. He only hopes that Kip and Chase are already racing down the ridge and towards the colonies, they are going to need every second they can get.

 

Cal hangs his head as Rett laughs, pulling the door open and exiting. Moments later he hears Klekut let out a series of piercing, terror and pain filled screams. He only stops listening when his own begin to drowned hers out when the two alphas start in on him.

 

…

 

Kip spares a few seconds to look back at Chase as she sees him clear the first patch of dense trees. Soon he’ll be out and on the plains. She turns and puts the spyglass up to her face as she sees three men approach Klekut. She watches until she can’t anymore, the bile in her stomach coming up quickly. She turns just in time to avoid vomiting all over her pack. It takes her a few moments to collect herself enough to put the spyglass back to her eye. They widen when she sees the body of her friend, hanging and barely recognizable.

 

Her attention is taken away from the gruesome sight when she sees four men on horseback leaving the gates. The bearded man she saw talking to Cal speaks to them for a few moments and then they nod to him and begin circling around slowly. _That must be Rett,_ she thinks, hatred and fear churning in her gut.

 

She looks back at the horsemen and realizes they are looking for tracks. Tracks that lead straight to the ridge she’s leaned up against. She slides down quickly before she can be spotted and springs into action, knowing she’s got to intercept the trackers before they can spot and follow Chase. She grabs Cal’s rifle, her sack and begins to pull out her bow as she runs down the ridge towards the two remaining horses.

 

…

 

Chase takes Marshall to a full gallop as he exits the dense forest with Klekut’s palomino, Racer, tethered to them from behind, oblivious to the easy to spot tracks the horses have made as they trotted through the forest.

 

Kip watches from her higher vantage point until she sees the trackers come around the deer path they used to find the ridge. She has little time to formulate a plan while she has the advantage of surprise and position.

 

She knocks an arrow and aims at the last man, face splitting into a feral grin when her arrow finds its mark. He falls off the horse without the man in front realizing it yet. She knocks another arrow and hits the second man, but it isn’t as clean of a shot. He slumps over, but is able to yell to his fellow trackers.

 

Kip curses and slips off the rock she was perched on and climbs onto Cal’s horse, heading down to the alphas. They spot her as she comes around the large boulders and sees they are aiming their rifles at her. She comes at them at full speed zig zagging, making it difficult for them to take accurate aim. One gets off a shot before she crashes into the lead alpha, taking him off his horse. She gets up first and is able to bury her dagger in his upper chest before she hears another shot and feels a sharp, powerful sting on the side of her head. Kip and the man on the horse both pause in shock, Kip’s hand going to her head and the man’s eyes widening, thinking he’d just put a bullet in her head, how can she still be standing.

 

Luckily, she recovers first and uses the body of the man she just stabbed as a shield as the alpha slides off his horse and takes aim again. She shoves the dying man at him and slides under his horse, careful not to get stomped by the agitated animal as she reaches for the man’s rifle that got dropped when she tackled him off his horse. She manages to get it aimed just as the last tracker pulls the trigger, hitting her right side just below her shoulder. She fires on reflex, hitting the alpha in the throat. He drops immediately.

 

Kip sucks in a breath and looks down at the wound in her arm. She lies there for a moment just trying to catch her breath. Then she spurs into action, grabbing the remaining rifles and their sacks. She quickly ties them to Chase’s horse and begins to take off after Chase. She stops suddenly when she gets an idea. She knows they would have heard the gunshots, she knows their tracks will be easy to follow. She looks around at the terrain, seeing that it could be easily blocked as it has two steep ravines on either side.

 

She slips off of her horse and pulls out her flint and steel. This is either going to be brilliant, or a disaster, but I’ve got to do something to slow them up.” She mumbles as she strikes the steel until sparks fly into the dry brush.

 

The flames burst to life as she jumps back. All the horses scatter, leaving her to try and outrun a rapidly growing forest fire.

 

“I hope I live to regret this.” She grumbles as she takes off in the direction of the Chase’s horse who fortunately ran the way she was heading, holding her arm as best she can.


	6. Indeed It Has

Kip is exhausted, but knows she can’t afford to stop and rest. If the wind picks up and blows in her direction and carries the fire any faster, she’s dead. She knows if she can keep going, there’s a river up ahead about two miles away. She slows only long enough to rip the sleeve off her injured arm and create a tourniquet of sorts. With all the running, she’s losing a lot of blood.

 

She wipes the blood from her head wound away from her eyes, glad it was only a graze. She shakes her head at her incredible luck and continues her jog towards the river.

 

…

 

“Smoke!” One of the alphas in the front watchtower calls out as he points to the eastern passage. Several men climb up to see what he’s spotted. They clamor down to report to Rett who grimaces and then yells out into the main square from in front of Klekut’s mangled body for his men to gather their weapons and get the trucks stocked with ammo and supplies.

 

“Taryl, go see if we need to worry about that fire. Gather a bucket brigade if it is heading this way.” Rett commands one of the alphas. He then turns to another alpha, a huge dark skinned giant, even by alpha male standards. “Make sure we are ready to go by sunrise tomorrow. That Indian bitch started squealing right before she took her last breath. Told us where they came from and that they plan on mounting an offensive attack. She mentioned some alpha female named Kip. Seems she’s running the show.” Rett reports casually to his second in command.

 

“Been a long time since we been huntin’.” Krus says with a thin smile.

 

“Indeed it has.” Rett agrees with his own predatory grin.

 

…

 

Chase decides to take a short break after he gets himself and the horses across the river. He guides the horses to a shady area and turns, seeing if he can see any trace of Kip. It is then that he sees a thick, growing plume of smoke.

 

“Dammit.” He says, torn between going back and continuing on. No matter what is happening back there, he knows he must get to the colony and tell them what he saw and help get them prepared.

He decides to wait for a bit though, hoping to see Kip break out of the trees and into view in the next half an hour or so, if she didn’t get caught in that fire.

 

…

 

 

Kip turns to see the fire gaining ground. As she does this, she stumbles over a prairie dog mound and puts her right arm out to break her fall, letting out a cry of pain as she hits the dirt hard.

 

She has no time to spare though as she struggles to get back up and continue running. She has to get to the last stand of trees before the fire hits them and overtakes her.

 

…

 

Chase watches with growing fear as he can now see flames coming through the trees. He’s confident the fire will stop at the river, but he’s concerned when he doesn’t see any sign of Kip. Suddenly from out of his peripheral vision to the north, he sees his horse barrel out of the woods and towards the river.

 

His heart drops when he sees there’s no rider on him, just a bunch of bags tied to the side of the saddle. “Farin!” He screams in between whistles. The petrified horse finally hears him and begins to gallop his way to his owner as he throws himself back into the river to retrieve his horse.

 

Horse and owner meet right on the bank and Chase does a quick inspection. He studies the packs and sees that one is Kip’s and the others he doesn’t recognize. He notes the three rifles tied to the back of the saddle.

 

“Where the hell are you, Kip.” He whispers, hoping she was on Cal’s horse and just took a different route. He begins to wade across the river with Farin when he hears a desperate shout from the tree line. He turns and lets out a loud hoot when he sees Kip, literally being chased by flames overhead in the trees as she throws herself through the last of the low brush and into the short grass. He reverses course and jumps on Farin’s back and rides straight to the alpha, barely slowing to circle her, throw down an arm and yank her up behind him.

 

They ride fast to the river’s edge and drop off as Chase grabs Farin’s reigns and guides them across the river. Kip, in her exhausted state, just holds onto Farin’s saddle for dear life.

 

After the get across, Chase clasps her forearm with a wildly relieved grin on his face.

 

“I thought..” He begins, looking over to the fire as it spreads into the trees.

 

“Almost. You had trackers on you so I took care of them. Then got the clever idea to start a fire in the pass to slow the rest down.” She coughs out as she tries to get her breath back.

 

“Klekut? Cal?” Chase asks hesitantly.

 

“They… killed Klekut. I watched them do it.” She says, trying to shake her head of the vision that will haunt her for the rest of her days. “They took Cal into a building. I heard his screams.” She shakes her head slowly.

 

Chase puts a hand on her shoulder but she winces. He then notices the large amount of blood on her bicep and side of her head as they begin bleeding anew after being washed off in the river.

 

“Kip…” He says, looking her over. She just shakes her head and grabs Marshall’s reigns.

 

“I’ll be okay. We need to get to the colonies. This fire won’t slow them for long, especially if they have more of those trucks.” She says. He nods and begins moving the packs and rifles to Klekut’s horse, taking one rifle for himself and giving one to Kip.

 

Once they are mounted up and ready, they turn and head east at a full gallop, the memory of Cal’s screams and what those men did to Klekut sending terrifying shivers down her spine.

 

…

 

_Present- Huron Colony_

“Trucks, they said?” Clya asks, eyes wide. She calls for one of the gate guards to gather up the rest of the elders and to send messengers to the other colonies, letting them know the battle is imminent and to send their fighters and prepare to defend their colonies.

 

“Sid!” Lia calls out to her brother. He excuses himself for a moment running to hug his sister. “What is happening?” She asks worriedly.

 

“Chase and Kip are back at Dakota, helping to get things ready and putting together an advanced group to scout Rett’s approach.” Sid tells her as they both join Clya in heading towards the community building.

 

“What happened though? Are they coming already?” Lia asks.

 

“Cal and Klekut were… captured. Kip and Chase says Rett and his army could be here at any time.” He explains.

 

“Oh my.” Lia says, eyes turning back to her house in thought. “Should we gather all the women, children now?” She asks.

 

“Chase will be here in the morning to let you know the exact plan.” Sid says, hoping Lia will not ask further about Kip right then.

 

“Why not Kip?” She asks, worried eyes reading her brothers easily.

 

“She has an injury to her arm. They were worried about infection so they have her resting and getting treatment. She’s fine though, she’ll be here by sundown tomorrow night or next morning.” He says with a reassuring gaze. Lia looks at him a bit longer, searching his eyes for any untruth. Her first instinct is to ask to be taken to her, but with the pups, she knows she can’t.

 

“You swear she’s okay?” She asks, eyes fixed. He nods.

 

“Alright. I’ll go let Sadia and Jia know what is going on and then I’ll meet you at the community building.” She says and takes off, mentally going over everything she needs to do, on top of worrying about her mate.

 

…

 

Kip yanks the IV out of her arm as soon as she’s alone. There’s no way she’s going to sit here when she needs to be home getting things ready and making sure her family is safe and secure for what is to come. The action of her standing up quickly makes her head swim and her brow break out in a sweat, but she ignores it.

 

She grabs her pack and creeps out of the med building and over to the Tessen Ranch where she quietly unties a barely rested Marshall and saddles him quickly.

 

“Let’s go, boy.” She whispers as she rides as quietly as she can out the gate, glad for the activity surrounding it so she can slip out unnoticed.

 

 

 

 

She reaches Huron right before sunrise, noting it is going on three days since they started back from Rett’s. They don’t have a second to lose. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees that the area right outside the gates is a flurry of activity as supplies, weapons, and bunker building material is already being assembled and shifted onto platforms for transport with the same industrious effort as is going on in the Dakota colony, which will serve as their front line fall back colony.

 

She’s able to slip in unnoticed as she rides Marshall straight to her home. The simple act of just sliding off of the horse makes her so dizzy she stumbles. Righting herself with effort, she makes it to her front door, opening it right before her world goes black.

 

Lia is in the nursery when she hears the front door open and then a loud thud. She quickly puts Claran down and grabs one of Kip’s bows hanging in the small hallway. She slowly, cautiously walks to the end of the hallway and peers around the corner, setting the bow down quickly and running to her fallen mate.

 

“Kip!” She says, trying to turn her over. She manages to get her onto her back and sees the dressing on her head and the large bandage wrapped around her right bicep. Even in the low twilight of the early hour she can see Kip’s face is flush. Her breathing coming in shallow spurts. She feels her forehead and it is on fire.

 

“Oh, Kip.” She cries. She quickly slides on her shoes and runs to Jia’s who lives the closest.

 

She knocks frantically until a very sleepy and confused Jia opens the door. “It’s Kip! She’s collapsed, she’s burning up!” She cries. It takes a moment for Jia to comprehend what Lia just told her, but after a second she nods.

 

“You go get Ty, I’ll make sure your pups are okay.” She says hurriedly as she goes to pull on a robe and wake her oldest pup to let her know where she’s gone.

 


	7. Tell Her This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last of the calm before the storm...

Ty leans back and pushes some hair out of her eyes with her forearm. “I think there are some bone fragments and bullet pieces Dr. Kosack didn’t get out.” She surmises when she finishes inspecting the wound as best she can without reopening it. She begins to take out the instruments from her bag that she’ll need to remove the remaining fragments. If she doesn’t soon, Kip could be in real trouble.

 

“Go get Rya and another Alpha. They’ll need to hold her down.” She says, looking up at Lia who nods quickly and heads out.

 

Jia comes in holding Crit, surveying the scene in the bedroom with a concerned expression. “Will she be okay?” The librarian asks, who had helped Lia and Ty get the Alpha onto the bed.

 

“If I can get the rest of those pieces out and set the bone properly she will be.” She says as she begins setting up for surgery.

 

Jia feels Crit stir and begin to look towards his matra. She quickly takes him out of the room, not wanting him to see her like that, writhing in pain and in and out of consciousness.

 

About ten minutes later Rya and San come in, their faces grim. They need to be out helping to prepare, but their concern for Kip quickly overshadows that when they see the state she’s in.

 

“I’ve got to fish around in there until I know it’s all out and make sure her bone is properly positioned. It’s going to hurt. A lot. San, lie across her lower body, Rya hold her top down. She looks over to Lia who is watching from the doorway, out of the way.

 

“I’ll need you to hold her arm down. Sit on it if you have to.” Ty says as she motions her over. Lia walks to the edge of the bed, a frightful look in her eyes. She already heard Ty’s assessment and knows how important it is she get all traces of the bullet out of her mate’s arm.

 

She watches Kip thrash weakly as she’s being restrained and it takes all of Lia’s willpower not to cry and try and comfort her.

 

Ty goes to their bathroom to scrub her hands and arms, all the while giving instructions to Lia about what she’ll need her to do in addition to holding Kip’s lower arm down. She listens and nods.

 

“Alright, you all ready?” She asks, looking at each one. They all nod. “Remember, keep her still, I don’t want to end up cutting a tendon.” She says with a small smirk that has Lia looking to Rya wondering if she’s joking or not.

 

“Here we go.” She says, opening the wound with a pair of forceps as Kip’s head and shoulders thrash and she lets out a weak cry. “Hold her.” She barks as she begins to search around with a pair of tweezers. “Got you.” She mumbles as she pulls a sliver of bone out. Lia hurries to reach behind her with her free hand, holding the small bowl out so Ty can drop the piece in it. She nearly drops it when Kip’s arm jerks up and almost out from under her.

 

“Lean on that arm.” Ty grunts as she continues to fish around the muscle to inspect the condition of the bone. Lia watches Kip’s face as it grows slack.

 

“Kip!” Lia calls out and Ty looks at her for a moment.

 

“She’s passed out from the pain.” She says with a bit of relief. It makes her job easier. “You can let her go now.”

 

Lia moves off of her hand only to take it into her own, stroking her forearm with her other one. San and Rya back up, but stay close, just in case.

 

Ty uses a ball of gauze to clear some of the blood and does another sweep after pulling one more small piece out. Lia’s stomach turns as she watches the doctor get a good look at her bone.

 

With a satisfied hum, Ty finally pulls the forceps holding the wound open away and flushes it out and begins to stitch it up.

 

“It’s all out?” Rya asks.

 

“I didn’t feel any other pieces in there, so yes.” Ty says with a short nod as she continues closing the wound. “Miraculously, the bone is merely chipped. No fracture I can see. It will just take some time to heal.”

 

“I’ll get her on an antibiotic cocktail and we should see her improve in the next 24 to 48 hours.” She says as she looks up at Rya. They all know they might not have even that much time before all hell breaks loose.

 

Rya and San both nod and stand. “We need to get back. Let us know if we need to do anything else though, or if there’s news.” Rya says as he looks at Lia with kind, concerned eyes.

 

“Of course.” She says and stands to walk them out. Rya turns to her as they get to the front door.

 

“You all packed up?” He asks. She nods. “Good. Be ready to go at any time.” He tells her.

 

“And Kip?” Lia asks, biting her lip.

 

“If she’s still immobile, we’ll send someone to take her with you.” He says, putting a hand on her arm.

 

Lia nods, eyes going to the floor. On the one hand, she hopes she stays like this, so she won’t have to go to the front lines and fight like she knows she would do. On the other, she hates to see her like this. In pain, suffering. She knows she’ll be angry at her limitation when she wakes.

 

Ty comes out of the bedroom having finished cleaning Kip and everything else up. “I’ll be in the infirmary getting ready. If her fever grows worse or she begins having trouble breathing, come get me immediately.”

 

“Okay. Thank you, Ty.” Lia says sincerely. Ty just nods.

 

“Of course. She’ll be okay, Lia.” She responds with a rare expression of warmth. Lia smiles and thanks her again as the three take their leave.

 

She checks on Kip one more time and sees Ty has left some written instructions for her. She closes the door and goes to the nursery to thank Jia for her help and send her home so she can finish getting packed up as well.

 

…

 

 

Chase brings his horse to a quick halt as he comes upon the Huron colony, frantic. “Is Kip here?!” He asks the nearest person who just shrugs. He continues on into the gates and straight to Kip and Lia’s, hoping she made it there.

 

He knocks only briefly before letting himself in, surprising Lia. “Is she here?” He asks breathlessly.

 

“Yes, came in a few hours ago.” Lia says, quickly leading him to the bedroom. He looks in on her sleeping form and heavily bandaged upper arm and sighs in relief.

 

“What the hell happened?” She asks as she slowly shuts the door and ushers Chase to the main room so they don’t wake her.

 

“Klekut and Cal were caught going down to get a closer look at Rett’s men and supplies. They killed Klekut.” He says with a sad shake of his head, recalling what Kip had described to him.

 

Lia takes in a breath. “And Cal?” She asks slowly.

 

“Not sure. They took him into a building. Kip heard him screaming, but we aren’t sure if he’s dead or not. They were most likely trying to get information from him.” He says grimly.

 

Lia sits a moment, digesting the information. “What happened to Kip?” She asks finally, looking towards the bedroom door.

 

“They’d sent trackers shortly after capturing Klekut and Cal. Kip hung back after sending me on to warn everyone. She stopped the trackers, all four of them, getting shot in the process.” He decides not to tell her about the close call head wound.

 

“Oh, and she started a fire to cover our tracks and buy us time.” He says with a proud smirk.

 

Lia stares at him in disbelief and her eyes widen for a second before shaking her head. Chase interprets it as her being displeased.

 

“There’s nothing she won’t do to protect you and the colony, Lia, you must reconcile that.” He says carefully.

 

She looks up at him giving him a mildly incredulous look. “I have, brother and it hasn’t been an easy task at all. I am so proud of her and what she’s become these last few months. I worry endlessly of course, but I have complete faith in her.” She says resolutely.

 

“Then make sure you tell her this. She’s got a lot riding on her shoulders and with her injury, it will be frustrating for her. She needs to know you still trust her completely.” He says, knowing how upset she was as they traveled back toward Dakota colony. He knows the only reason she’s not out helping set up right now is because she’s literally unconscious.

 

“With my life and our pups’ lives.” She says solemnly.

 

…

 

“Rett, fire is finally out in the pass. We can go now.” Taryl announces to the bearded Alpha as he enters his quarters.

 

He pushes the emaciated Omega away from him and dresses quickly. “Get everyone in the trucks then. We head out in the next hour.”

 

…

 

After Lia finishes feeding the pups and putting them down for their afternon nap, she goes into the bedroom, surprised to find Kip up and in the bathroom. She walks in to see her mate, naked except for the clean white bandage on her arm, changing into some clean clothes. Her hair is wet and pulled back, showing the neat row of stitches starting at her temple and running into hair line.

 

“Beloved, are you sure you should be up?” Lia asks tentatively.

 

Kip turns, a slight smile at the nickname. It slides off her face quickly though as she continues to dress. Just the movement of putting on her underwear hurts and she’s getting frustrated by the minute. Bathing seems to have taken almost everything out of her.

 

“I don’t have time…” She says, taking in a breath. She’s ready to fight Lia as she hears the Omega step closer, but is surprised when she simply helps pull up her trousers, buttoning them up for her. She pats her naked chest.

 

“I know I can’t keep you in bed. Please, just be mindful that your body is fighting a bad infection and trying to heal. Until you are forced to fight, be mindful of that. We need you strong and healthy for when this is all over.” She says warmly, face close to the Alpha’s jaw.

 

Kip nods and wraps her good arm around her mate, pulling her in tight. Lia gingerly wraps her arms around her torso, trying to pour as much strength and love into her mate as she can.

 

“I will make our brothers do all the heavy lifting, but I need to be out there speaking with the elders and I need to talk to Micah.” She says with a sad expression.

 

“Chase told me what happened to Klekut. Do you think Cal might still be alive?” Lia asks as she steps away to help Kip finish dressing.

 

“I don’t know. If he is, it is only because Rett thinks he’ll be useful or will talk.” She answers honestly. She thanks Lia with a kiss for helping her finish dressing and leaves her hand on the Omega’s jaw.

 

“As soon as the scouts come back with a location on Rett and his army, I want you, Sada and Freya, Jia and all the pups to hide in the root cellar under our shop.” Kip says.  They'd talked about it as their first hiding place for women and children, but dismissed it as it wasn't big enough.  It was perfect though, because only San, Kip's family and Lope knew about it and it had a secret exit that led to a small outpost building Kip used for extra storage.

 

“But we are to go with the rest to the old hunting lodge.” Lia explains in confusion.

 

“I can’t take the risk that neither Klekut or Cal talked, Lia.” She explains. The vision of Klekut being skinned alive and her screams. She didn’t see the alpha talk, but within the time it took Kip to throw up at the sight and gather herself, she wouldn’t be surprised if the alpha gave up information. And she really had no idea if Cal would talk. Better to be safe and have Lia and those closest to them go to the hiding place no one else knew about.

 

“I’ll have a hard time convincing Freya. Her sisters will be hiding in the lodge.  They'll all be in danger too.” Lia tells her.

 

“I know.  And we will do everything in our power to make sure they are never touched, you know this."  Kip says.  Lia sees the desperation in her eyes.  She decides not to argue Kip's request.  Kip stares at Lia for a moment and when no other argument comes from the Omega, she continues.  "Give her the choice, but do not tell her where it is in advance. Tad, Lela, Lope and his brother will be joining you as well. Sheela will want to stay with the bigger group.” Kip says.

 

“Alright.” Lia agrees reluctantly, wanting one less thing for her Alpha to worry about.

 

“Thank you.” Kip says earnestly and gives her mate another kiss, this one deeper, more poignant.

 

“Let me go say goodbye to our pups.” Kip says, calling upon all her reserves to appear strong and ready for what’s to come in the next few days.


	8. Let Us Have the Chance

“Did you talk to Micah?” Chase asks as he helps Kip up onto a wagon so she can organize some supplies.

 

“I did. One of the hardest things I’ve had to do.” She says with a shake of her head. She looks at Chase for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I told him that he was dead.”

 

Chase looks at her in surprise, but doesn’t say anything. She waits a second to see if he’ll react, telling her she was wrong or right, but when he doesn’t, she continues. “I don’t want him going and risking his life trying to find him when he’s most certainly dead, you know?” Kip says, looking at Chase for support in her decision now. She didn’t intend to tell Micah Cal was dead when she first went to talk to him, but the more she thought about it, the screams she heard from that building… And selfishly, she needed Micah here helping them and giving them any insight he could, not going off to Rett’s camp risking certain death in trying to find out if Cal was alive or not. Even if he was, she’s pretty sure he’d be in such bad shape, killing him might be a mercy.

 

“Did you tell him what Cal told us before he was captured?” Chase asks instead.

 

“Yes. He was surprised, but he corroborated everything Cal said. I told him to take a few hours, but he insisted on coming out and helping. He’s helping with the explosives.” She says.

 

As Chase jumps down off the wagon, Kip calls to him. “I did the right thing, didn’t I? Telling him he was dead?” Kip asks plaintively.

 

Chase looks at her a long moment. He knows the answer she wants to hear. He thinks about his own mate, Talia. What if he was in the same situation as Micah. “I think somehow, we need to confirm what happened to him. If only for Micah’s peace of mind. And yours.” He answers honestly. Kip nods her head solemnly.

 

 

 

By morning the next day, everything is set up at the place they will make their stand. It is a half mile west of Dakota colony where there are some large boulder formations and a small forest that will offer cover. They know it will be a challenge to keep them from flanking them as they are in the middle of the plains, but they hope the fact that they outnumber them will be an advantage.

 

The partially pre-built structures are erected and trenches were dug as the last of the night fades as the last of the fighters from the nearby colonies begin to set up their positions.

 

“Any word from Klekut’s colony elder?” Chase asks Elder Booth as they go over some last minute personnel placements.

 

“He was in talks with the colony to the north still, trying to convince them why making this stand is important.” Booth says with mild exasperation. He’s been up pretty much since Chase and Kip made it back three days ago and knows he won’t be getting any more rest until this is all over.

 

“Let’s hope they can be convinced. We have a lot of able-bodied Alphas and beta males, and the old-timers that saw their share of fighting years ago have been helpful, but having some with current experience in fighting would be invaluable.” Chase comments.

 

“Totally agree with you there, Kip.” Elder Booth replies with a tired sigh.

 

…

 

Lia hears her front door open as she gets the pups ready to be moved. She’d already sent Tad, Lela and Lope to finish bringing the extra food and bedding down into the cellar so all that was left was their personal supplies and of course, the pups to bring to the cellar.

 

“Freya decided to stay with her sisters.” Kip confirms, recalling the fight she and San had right in the middle of their living room as Kip awaited the decision. Lia thought she’d had her convinced when she talked with her yesterday. She comes out with Crit in her arms, nodding, trying not to get emotional. After they leave for the root cellar, she won’t see Kip until after it is all over.

 

Kip, sensing her mate’s feelings, slowly takes Crit from her with her good arm and leans in to give her a kiss.

 

“It is a good thing I am left handed.” She quips, getting a weak smile from her beloved. “Get the other two. I’ll help you guys get settled.” She says with a warm smile.

 

Lia nods and puts the two pups in the wagon. It’s a tight fight with the supplies in there too and Kip chuckles when she wheels them out. “Sure you don’t want to use their little laps for anything?” She laughs when she sees them tucked in in a sitting position right next to each other.

 

“As a matter of fact…” Lia says, trying her best to lighten her own mood for Kip’s sake as she goes to grab a little stuffed rabbit and bear from a shelf, “There.” She says as she tucks the animals in over the pups’ laps. They immediately pull them up and begin gnawing on them, drooling all over them.

 

The parents share a giggle and then sober when they hear Jia from their front porch. “Everyone is heading down!”

 

Kip is content to carry Crit as Lia wheels the wagon out the door and to the shop. They silently off-load it’s contents into the cellar as Lope and Sada begin organizing everything.

 

At last, after kissing and whispering to each of her pups, Kip hands the last one, Risa, over and Lia brings her over to the playpen that has been brought down into the cellar to keep the little ones corralled in the smallish space.

 

She turns to Sada and Rya over by the shop’s counter, as Rya holds a sobbing Sada. The siblings look at each other, Kip with sympathy and Rya with resignation. They both know there is no guarantee they’ll come out of this alive. But they have to be strong for their mates.

 

Kip decides to give them some privacy as she follows Lia down to inspect the space, making sure once again that they have everything they need.

 

“We will be okay, Alpha.” Lia says as she puts a hand around Kip’s neck. She feels tears begin in the corners of her eyes and pulls Kip down to her before they can fall. “Please be careful. Come back to us.” She whispers as she presses a lingering kiss to her cheek, infinitely relieved when she notices her fever has gone down considerably.

 

Kip turns to capture her lips, bringing her good arm around her waist as she does. When she pulls back, her eyes are bright, her smile warm. “I will. I will post two alphas inside the shop. Peet will be one of them.” Kip says, knowing Lia will feel a bit better having one of Kip’s good friends looking out for them. “If they come down and tell you to move, you move.” Kip reminds earnestly.

 

“We will.” Lia says. “I love you, my Alpha.” She says quietly but with conviction.

 

“I love you, Omega, with all my heart.” Kip replies as she slides out of Lia’s grasp. She’s already taken too long to say goodbye, she knows. She gives one last long look at her pups before turning to go.

 

“Kip, what did you whisper to the pups?” Lia asks as Kip starts up the stairs.

 

She turns and gives her a crooked smile. “We’ll talk about it when I return.” She replies.

 

As Kip turns around to walk up the stairs, she and Lia both have the same thought. _Please let us have the chance._

…

 

Micah is in a daze as he follows behind Karn, Jia’s mate, to the last wagon to heading to the front line. He is still reeling from Kip’s news but he knows Cal would want him to continue the fight. That will be what will keep him going for now.

 

He doesn’t see Tad in front of him carrying a large sack of sheepskin bedding until he knocks him over.

 

“Sorry!” He says as he helps pick the boy up. They try stuffing the bedding back into the sack, but the sack has ripped, making it impossible. “Here, I’ll help you. Where are you taking them?” He asks.

 

“To Kip’s shop.” He says. Micah nods and grabs the rest of them, following the boy to the shop. They get to the entrance just as Rya is heading out. It is then Tad remembers that he was supposed to keep secret where he was hiding during the fight.

 

Rya, surprised to see Micah, steps out of the door to hold it open for Tad. He has no idea if Kip told him about the hiding spot, so he decides to play it off by not saying anything, just grabbing the bedding from Micah and placing it just inside the door and then shutting it behind Tad.

 

“You ready?” He asks, waiting for Micah to turn around and head towards the last wagon.

 

“As I’ll ever be.” He answers, hazarding a puzzled look back at Kip’s shop and wondering why Tad wasn’t at the hunting lodge with the rest of the women and children.

 

…

 

 

Kip watches Micah from the other side of the wagon as they make their way to the front line. He looks sad and tired, which is to be expected, but there’s something else in his eyes that she can’t quite decipher. Her eyes move off of him to the triage center set up near the entrance of the Dakota colony. She sees Dr. Kosack, Ty and a handful of assistants rolling gauze, going over supply lists, waiting for the first casualties to arrive once the battle begins. She knows if Lia had had her choice, she’d be right out there helping. She smiles wistfully at a hoped for vision of the future with her mate volunteering at Ty’s clinic once their pups get school aged.

 

She shakes her head to get her mind back to the present, leaning over to speak to Chase. They’d gotten word that Rett and his army are setting up camp about a quarter mile outside of Dakota’s marked hunting grounds, an act that tells Kip two things: Rett knows which colonies they were from and knows they are prepared for battle. It also confirms to Chase and Kip that one or both of their friends gave up that information.

 

The scouts had also reported that there were four trucks, heavily armored by the look of them and roughly 75 to 100 men altogether traveling by horse and wagon. They anticipated that they’ll be set up by sundown, leading them to believe attack would come sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

 

“We need to take out those trucks tonight.” Everyone hears Micah say. Kip looks at him with surprise, but nods for him to continue. “Normally, his attacks are complete surprises. This one he’ll have to strategize a bit for. If he uses the same technique he uses on other colonies, his attack will be lead by those trucks. He knows you have nothing to stop them once they are barreling down on your front line.”

 

Kip and Chase look at Micah. “What do you suggest?” They ask.

 

“Take two people to puncture the gas tanks, or better yet pour sand in them, slash the tires, anything or all of those things to make them immobile. They might be able to fix them, but it won’t be in any timely manner.” Micah suggests.

 

“Or we could just blow them up.” Karn says as he gestures to the area where they are assembling alcohol explosives.

 

“Or we could just blow them up.” Kip repeats with a wicked grin.

 

“I want to volunteer to be one of the ones to do it.” Micah says. Kip looks at him a long second and then looks at Chase.

 

“I know where the tanks are and I know how they operate.” Micah adds. Chase looks at Kip and shrugs.

 

“Makes sense.” He says. Kip feels uneasy sending him in, but he know Micah’s right.

 

“Alright. Who else should go?” Kip asks and Chase points to Karn.

 

Karn smiles. He loves to blow things up.

“If we do this, if we blow them up, it will obviously speed up the attack.” Kip warns.

 

“We’ll get word out to everyone then. Once they see the explosions, be ready.” Chase replies.

 

“Why not just attack full force tonight? Take the battle to them?” San asks, having listened silently until now.

 

“It would be suicide. They have rifles, handguns and most likely enough ammo to kill everyone here twice. Better to make them come to you where they have no cover at first.” Micah replies.

 

Kip nods at that assessment. “Right after midnight, I’ll send you and Karn to disable the trucks. Once it is done, get back here as fast as possible, we’ll need all hands on deck.”

 

…

 

Karn uses the high brush as cover as he leads the way up to the perimeter of the enemy camp. He stops and lays the bag down carefully as not to disturb the alcohol filled glass bottles they’ll use to blow up the trucks.

 

They know that their timing is crucial and once they place the explosives they’ll have a very short time to light the cotton fuses and get the hell out of there.

 

Micah lifts his head a bit to see if he can find a way to get close to the vehicles without being detected. They are parked on their side near the front but there is a tall barrier of crates with a couple of men perched on top as lookouts.

 

“I’m going to head over there to see if there’s a way to sneak in.” Micah says, pointing to a tent in the back. “Stay here until I return.”

 

Karn nods as Micah begins moving slowly in that direction.

 

…

 

“What if we fail to keep them out?” San asks Kip who has just returned to their position near the front from visiting each trench, bunker and tree post, making sure every hunting marksman, spear thrower, alcohol bomb maker and catapult team were alert and prepared.

 

“We won’t fail.” Kip answer resolutely, keeping her eyes trained on the horizon.

 

“But what if they get through…” San says again. Kip can tell she’s scared. She’s petrified as well. The vision of what was done to Klekut gave her enough of a glimpse of what these monsters were capable of. And she was charged with defeating them.

 

She turns to her long time friend. The one she risked her life and lost her mother and brother to save. “We will chase them and bring them all down until there are none left. If we don’t, everyone we love, our mates, our pups will suffer a fate way worse than death at the hands of these horrible men. Keep that in mind when you think of failing.” Kip says, fiery green eyes boring into the Alpha’s light blue ones.

 

San sits back, taking Kip’s words in. After a few seconds she gets up and lays out a few arrows and sets her bow down gently in front of her on the bunker’s ledge. She then returns to her seat and mimics Kip’s position, peering into the darkness ahead.

 

…

 

Karn looks back in the direction Micah took off to. It has been a while and he’s growing a bit worried. He begins to pick up his bag and move off in that direction when there is a commotion causing the men who were on the crates as lookouts to jump down and go investigate.

 

 _He’s either caught or causing a diversion_ , Karn thinks as he shoulders the bag quickly. He doesn’t waste a second, hurrying to the trucks and hastily setting the glass bottles where Micah had instructed him earlier. He knew he probably couldn’t get all the explosive lit before they started going off, so he just put them on every other truck, hoping the explosion would hit the one next to it.

 

He lit a grease soaked stick and moved as quickly and quietly as he could until he’d lit the four he’d set. As an afterthought, he tossed the remaining bottles under the other two trucks and next to some crates in front of the trucks. He barely clears the crates when the first one goes off, knocking him to the ground so hard he blacks out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go!


	9. Battle Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character deaths in this one..

Micah is nearly on his belly, crawling towards the back of the camp towards the big tent. He thinks he can see a sliver of light that might be their way through. He continues on, stopping listening intently for footsteps, voices.

 

He’s about five feet from the back of the tent when he hears a voice. A voice he would recognize any time, any place.

 

“Wake up. We’re here done setting up camp.” He hears Rett say to someone.

 

“Even though you can’t speak, I know you can write. And you have your sight left, at least in one eye.” He hears the alpha chuckle.

 

“We have all the men, weapons and information we need to send these backwards, inbred dirt scratchers back to the earth they worship so much. But because I’m in a giving mood, I’ll give you a last chance to save your beloved. Which one is Kip and who is her mate?” There’s silence and then a defiant grunt. Micah’s back stiffens and the hair on the back of his neck stands up.

 

“Suit yourself, Cal.” He hears the bearded alpha bite out. “Taryl, kill the fucker.”

 

Micah is on his feet clamoring through the small space between the tents. He makes it to the side of the tent before one of Rett’s guards grabs him. “Rett!” He calls out as a knife is put to his throat. The guard hesitates a moment and Micah sees the burly alpha storm out of the tent, eyes blazing, then they immediately calm and a thin smile forms over his lips.

 

“Micah. Come, join us.” He says calmly, holding the tent flap back as Micah hesitantly walks through. He sees his mate, face and chest bloody, one eye missing, and his tongue appears to be cut out, but he’s alive. Micah chokes back a gasp, frozen at the sight of his beloved. Rett turns and instructs the guard to pull everyone off their details and search the perimeter for others. “Kill them on sight. Bring me their heads.”

 

…

 

Kip and San jump up when they see a series of explosions go off. “That’s it, those are the trucks.” San says confidently and grabs her arrow bag and takes up her bow.

 

Kip can see the runners already out lighting the torches some 50 yards in front of them. It will help illuminate the attackers for the tree archers. Kip rubs at her bandage, still beyond angry she cannot contribute with her bow hunting skills. She’s good with the hand crossbow, but it is not as accurate, nor can it travel as far.

 

She’d given Ki, Lia’s father, Cal’s rifle, and he had posted himself along with three others that could shoot in the tallest tower between Dakota colony and the front lines. They all had limited bullets so their job was to pick off anyone who got through the lines until they had none left. Ki hoped to have ammo to spare when it was all over.

 

…

 

Karn wakes in the middle of the tall grass he landed in to a bunch of rough hands. He tries to turn around, but he’s pinned down. “Ah, will you look at this.” He hears someone say above him with a smug laugh.

 

“You heard what Rett wanted.” Another voice says, serious, commanding.

 

Karn doesn’t even get a chance to fight or scream out as someone pulls his head up by his hair and slits his throat.

 

…

 

“Rett, we can salvage one of the trucks.” Taryl says, winded as he jogs up to Rett as he exits his tent.

 

“Just one?” He asks, angrily. Taryl nods. The Alpha lets out a loud, earth-shaking shout of frustration and pins Taryl with a glare.

 

“I want the head of whomever was supposed to be watching the trucks. After that, assemble your six best men. I want you to lead them to this location across the river to this colony.” The alpha hisses, still angry at the loss of all but one truck, he then points to a building on a roughly drawn map of Huron colony. “In the root cellar is the bitch Alpha’s Omega mate. I want you to bring her to me. You’ll know who she is.” He says, recalling Micah’s description of her to his second in command.

 

Taryl nods and starts to take off to carry out his boss’ orders, but Rett calls him back. “Kill everyone else you find in that cellar, but bring the Omega to me untouched. We’ll come back for the rest of them in the hunting lodge when we kill the rest of ‘em.” He adds with a sinister grin.

 

He calls to another one of his men, the giant dark-skinned alpha named Tinus. “Everyone armed and moving swift, just like we planned for the morning. I need them pinned down and pissing in their trousers. Taryl needs to get the truck through passed the colony. Do you understand?” He barks.

 

“Yes, Rett. We’ll be ready inside of an hour.” He says with a sharp nod.

 

…

 

 

The start of the battle is signaled by the first tree archer’s flaming arrow hitting its mark in one of the attackers chests. There was a shrill whistle and then the dark, quiet night is instantly filled with gunfire, explosions and screams as Rett’s men begin a full scale launch, using crude but mobile iron shields being pushed by what looks to be large male slaves chained to the body of them.

 

They move closer on their large wheels as the attackers lay down covering fire for their fellow attackers who are lobbing gunpowder explosives into the colonists’ bunkers.

 

“We’ve gotta take out those shields!” Rya yells, coming up to Kip who was loading her crossbow as quickly as she could to pick off runners trying to flank them.

 

“Assemble a few on horseback to ride in as close as possible and toss the alcohol explosives inside those shields.” Kip says. Rya stands looking at her for a moment, and she can read his mind.

 

“If we can free them we will, but right now, they need to be stopped anyway we can.” She says with a grim expression.

 

“You’re right.” He says and turns to go gather the horses and riders.

 

“Be careful, Brother.” She calls to him. He nods.

 

“You as well.”

 

…

 

“Go around that stand of trees.” Taryl commands his driver. He peers out of the window just making out the smoke and fire of the battlefield. He’s pretty sure that between the sound and the tall grass and trees, he’s flanked the front line successfully. Now he hopes there is a bridge across that river still.

 

…

 

Kip watches as Rya and a few others take off on horseback towards the iron shields. They know as they move closer those riflemen are getting in better and better range.

 

Her attention is drawn away at the sight of a man getting ready to lob an explosive into one of the forward bunkers. She takes aim, striking him in the chest as his hand cocks back. He crumples to the ground as the lit explosive slips out of his hand and detonates right next him blowing himself to pieces.

 

Suddenly the ground shakes with a huge explosion and Kip turns to see one of their catapults collapse. “What was that?!” She hears a few of her fellow fighters shout. She looks towards the back of Rett’s army’s line and sees a giant looking gun barrel. “I think that’s a cannon.” She hears herself say with abject fear.

 

She runs to the stable, catching San and her father on the way. “If they have any more of those, we are all dead.” She says as she beckons them to follow her.

 

“What are we going to do?” San asks as she runs with Kip.

 

“They must be taken out immediately. They’ll take down our towers and our advantage up high.” Tarin answers for his daughter.

 

They look back as they see one more go off after being rolled into position. They look on in amazement as they watch a huge iron ball take out Ki’s tower.

 

“NO!” Kip yells. She begins to run towards it, hoping to find that Ki had survived the fall. She comes to a skidding halt as she sees his broken body under one of the large supports along with two other Alphas. She looks up just as Sid arrives, watching in horror as the young Alpha crumples to the ground in anguish.

 

…

 

“Cal, I had to.” Micah pleads with his mate as he continues to hold him, cleaning his wounds as best he can. Cal cannot speak and only has use of one eye, but it is staring at Micah with abject disappointment and disgust.

 

It didn’t matter to Micah at the moment now. He had his mate in his arms alive. The one that Kip said was dead. He would have done anything, said anything if it meant saving Cal now that he knows he’s alive.

 

He had begged the Rett not to kill them, easily giving up what the Alpha wanted most, to know where Kip’s mate was hiding. At the time he had no issue giving up information after Kip betrayed them. He also told him about the hunting lodge if he would let them go.

 

But now, with how his mate is looking at him, even after he explained what Kip had told him, that he was dead, he wonders if it was the right thing to do after all.

 

…

 

Kip quickly helps Sid pull his father out of the rubble and take him over to the stables, wrapping him up best they could. She puts a hand on Sid who is unable to move. “We must continue fighting, Sid.” She says gently.

 

Sid nods and scrubs his face so it is free of tears. “Let’s go kill these animals.” He says resolutely.

 

…

 

“Shoot those goddamn idiots on horseback!” Rett commands as he uses his spyglass to view the battlefield. They’ve already taken out half of their shield pushers and she sees a few more heading for their cannons, zigzagging and changing speeds to avoid being easy targets.

 

He throws down his spyglass in disgust when he sees the rest of his shields taken out with large incendiaries, hearing the men scream as they run around, bodies engulfed in flames.

 

“Send in the next wave!” He screams at Tinus.

 


	10. Our Families, Our Land, Our Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those for sticking with me! Gonna get pretty crazy.

Rya returns to the stable with three of the remaining alphas. He’d started with eight. But they had been successful. The shields were no longer mobile and the colonists were able to use them to advance on Rett’s army.

 

He goes to find Kip who is in the last tower with her spyglass, grinning as the last cannon is disabled.

 

“We are advancing on the camp.” Rya reports to his sister. She nods.

 

“Boy, what we don’t have in skill, we certainly make up for in heart.” She comments solemnly, looking out at the bodies that littered the battlefield. She spares a moment to feel the grief of losing so many friends and of course, Lia’s father, and the sorrow she knows will come when she must tell her beloved. She sighs deeply and raises her good arm over her face to wipe away sweat. She doesn’t know if it is from her fever returning or exertion and she’s got no time to find out.

 

“We’re fighting for our families, our land, our lives.” Rya replies as he takes the spyglass from his sister. She nods knowingly.

 

“I’m joining the advance. You got this?” She asks, taking in his exhausted face. He’s got various bruises and small cuts, but he otherwise looks fine. He picks up his rifle and begins to stack the ration of ammo he’d brought up with him.

 

“Yes. I’ll yell down if I see anything.” He says. “You feeling okay?” He asks quickly as he turns to watch her scramble down the ladder.

 

“I’m fine. Keep an eye out. And don’t shoot any of the good guys.” She winks, making him shake his head and chuckle.

It has been a long, arduous day with many lives lost. But they are winning. Every dead attacker wielded a weapon the colonists were happy to retrieve, turning them quickly against the invaders. With the cannons shut down and the shields in their hands, they continue to advance.

 

Kip sees San and her father Tarin ride up, covered in blood. Her eyes widen but her father puts a hand up quickly.

 

“It isn’t ours.” He explains tersely. She nods, relieved. “We made it as far as the perimeter after destroying the cannons. He’s got a reserve of at least two dozen heavily armed men, Kip.” He reports solemnly.

 

“Dammit.” Kip hisses. She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. She looks out again to the battlefield littered with colonists and attackers alike. She scrubs her face. “Let’s have every able-bodied fighter rally back at the rear bunker. Get every weapon, all the ammo, all the explosives we have.” Kip instructs.

 

…

 

“There it is.” The driver informs Taryl who had been looking at the map. He grunts acknowledgment and gets out of the truck, motioning for the rest to follow him around to peer through the window on the side of the building.

 

“Two alpha guards.” One says and Taryl nods and pushes him aside so he can have a look himself.

 

“They’re most likely guarding the cellar door. Take them out quietly.” Taryl instructs two of his men.

 

They come out moments later and nod. Taryl walks in and immediately locates the trap door.

 

He raps on it with a sharp, fast staccato and waits.

 

…

 

The omegas and Lela are in the back of the root cellar dealing with a crying Risa and entertaining Sada’s squirmy twins when Tad hears a knock on the cellar door. He looks back to ask what to do, but no one is in sight.

 

“Hello? Peet? Rain?” Tad asks tentatively.

 

“Kip sent me, we need to get you all out of there.” Tad hears through the door. He doesn’t recognize the voice though.

 

“Where’s Peet and Rain?” Tad asks cautiously.

 

“They had to join the battle. The invaders are heading this way! Open the door so we can get you out!” Taryl says trying to make his voice shake with fear and urgency.

“I’ll get Lia.” He answers the man but the man says there’s no time and to open the door immediately. He looks again towards the back of the cellar but no one is in sight. The man knocks again. He unlatches the door.

 

…

 

The ray of bright light coming from the root cellar door catches Lia’s attention and she hands over Risa to Lela and heads through the narrow corridor. She opens her mouth to ask Tad what is going on but it falls open and silent as a large alpha bounds down the steps with Tad in his clutches.

 

“Well that was pretty fucking easy.” He chuckles as he catches sight of Lia in the barely illuminated tunnel. He drops Tad unceremoniously and commands her to come with him.

 

“Who are you?” She asks, fear tightening her chest painfully. He only gives her a sinister smile making a grab for her as she turns to warn the other Omegas.

 

“Run!” She screams as he snatches her around by her waist. She kicks and claws at him, but he’s so much bigger and stronger.

 

“Run? Run where?” He laughs as he half drags, half lifts her towards the cellar doors. Tad stands in his way, scared but defiant. The Alpha merely slaps him out of the way, knocking him unconscious.

 

“Tad!” Lia cries as she continues to struggle against the Alpha’s impossibly strong hold.

 

He pushes her up the stairs as she kicks and fights him the entire time, getting in a solid kick to his jaw that only makes him laugh. He raises his hand to hit her but then remembers his boss’ words not to harm her. _He’ll do plenty of that on his own_ , he thinks with a satisfied smile.

 

Once she clears the door, she’s up and trying to escape.

 

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Peet and Rain on the ground with their throats slit, eyes open and lifeless. She stumbles and gasps in disbelief, running squarely into another alpha carrying a flaming torch and a glass bottle filled with liquid.

 

“NO… NO!” She screams. They just laugh.

 

The one with the bottle goes halfway down and she hears him toss the bottle, hearing it break and splash then he throws the torch in and the whole cellar becomes an instant inferno.

 

A deep, keening scream is wrenched from her lungs. “YOU MONSTERS!” She begins hitting them with everything she has until a bag is hurled over her head and her feet and hands are bound.

 

…

 

 

Kip is running back and forth from the ammo supplies to the bunkers handing out ammo and explosives when her ribcage tightens sharply, stopping her in her tracks. She even checks down at it to see if she’s been hit, but finds no marks or holes in her thick leather vest. She catches her breath and continues making her runs. They have no time to spare before the second wave hits them.

 

…

 

 

Lia lies on the truck bed floor, sobbing uncontrollably as the reality of what has just happened takes hold. She must believe the Omegas heeded her warning and got everyone through the long tunnel before the fire found them. She has to believe it.

 

She allows herself to cry for a few more moments before taking a deep breath and concentrating on her situation and questions begin to form in her mind. _How did they find them? Why did they just take her? Does this mean their colonies have lost? Is Kip dead?_ This last question makes her tears start anew.

 

Suddenly the bag is ripped from her head roughly and she blinks as she stares up at five very large male alphas. She watches in horror as their noses begin taking in her scent.

 

Taryl growls as one stands up and begins unbuckling his belt.

 

“Jaster, you sit the fuck down. This one is Rett’s.” He warns menacingly but Jaster is too slow in complying so Taryl boots him in the chest, knocking him out of the truck.

 

“Walk back, you idiot!” He shouts at him as he snorts deeply and spits a huge glob of phlegm towards the ousted Alpha. He peers at the other men with a warning look that tells them the next man who tries anything will get a far worse punishment.

 

“Where are you taking me?” Lia asks in a trembling voice.

 

The big Alpha who seems to be in charge answers her with a wicked grin. “Hell.”

 

…

 

“They’re coming!” Rya shouts down to the bunker where colonists were gathering as much ammo as they could. Kip runs to where she can see her brother from up top and asks how many.

 

“At least two dozen. Maybe more!” He says, taking another look through his spyglass. “They are splitting up to try and flank…” He shouts, but his speech is cut off when he is struck by a bullet and crumples from view.

 

“RYA!” Kip yells. She starts around to the ladder when she hears gunfire and sees the dirt around her jumping. “Take cover!” She shouts to the colonists that had just vacated the trenches as she jumps into a ditch herself.

 

She peeks her head up to see where the long range shots were coming from but is sent back down as a bullet whizzes past her ear.

 

“Dammit!” She shouts in frustration and fear. She sees a pistol not too far off and begins to crawl quickly as she can on her belly until she reaches it. She hurls herself behind a pile of sandbags in front of the next bunker ahead of her and checks to see if there’s even bullets in it. She lets out a sigh of relief when she discovers a full chamber.

 

She turns and ventures a look over the bags to see a few colonists making their way towards the enemy camp using dead horses, shields and ditches for cover. She knows she needs to get up to that tower to see where those first long-range shots are coming from and to see if Rya is alive.

 

She looks to her right and sees a couple of colonists taking cover. “Hey! I’m making a run to the tower. Give me some covering fire!” She yells and the men nod.

 

She sees them rise and take aim as she takes off towards the tower as fast as she can, sliding to the ladder amidst one close shot after another. Finally, she makes her way to the top and crouches over Rya. She sees immediately that he is still breathing and closes her eyes slowly in relief as she gingerly turns him over to see a wound in his upper right shoulder.

 

“Sniper..” He breathes out with effort.

 

“Yes..” Kip confirms as she grabs his rifle.

 

“Can you shoot?” He asks as he struggles to pull himself up to lean against the tower wall.

 

“Better than you now.” She says as she grimaces, trying to get her right arm in position to steady the rifle. When she sees she can do it with effort she sets it back down and grabs the spyglass rising just enough to see over the edge to pick out where the sniper is coming from. She spots him in a tree too far for her rifle to reach.

 

“I have to get closer.” She says and grabs the rifle, opens the crate of ammo and stuffs the bullets into her pockets.

 

Rya struggles to get up and follow her.

 

“No. Stay here. I’ll send a medic up. You’ll bleed to death if you exert yourself.” She says with a worried scowl.

 

“I’m not gonna sit here.” He grunts. She doesn’t have time to argue as she makes her way out of the tower and down the ladder. Having to hold the rifle and having one good arm to climb makes it difficult and once she gets halfway down the bullets start flying again.

 

She jumps the rest of the way down rolling with the impact and scrambling to cover. She growls again at being pinned down but at least she knows where the bastard is. She shouts up to Rya. “Hold on. Let me move closer to him and distract him!”

 

She sees him nod and then takes off towards the high brush for cover. She runs into an invader trying to flank them and dispatches him quickly with her knife before he can even get a shot off. She gives him a feral smile as she takes his pistol and sticks it into her belt.

 

…

 

Once the truck crosses the river, Taryl puts the hood back on Lia’s head and puts a boot on her to keep her down below the truck bed walls. She’s petrified but doesn’t dare move or utter a word. She has to think now. If she can’t escape, there’s no way they will take her back alive. She can only imagine the horrors an Omega would face in a camp full of evil alpha men.

 

…

 

As Kip nears the enemy camp, she remembers a large stand of boulders she’d found when she had gone for a walk back when she and Rya were camped out for the strength and virility contest. It seems like such a long time ago even though it was only about a year and a half ago. How much her life has changed runs quickly through her mind as she switches course slightly heading for them.

 

Once she locates them, she scrambles to the top one and is pleased when she sees the tree she’d spotted in her spyglass well within range. She sees the alpha, perched on a crude platform, rifle at his cheek. She gets into position ignoring the searing pain it causes her arm as she lines up the shot.  She pulls the trigger and gives a grunt of satisfaction when she sees his arms go slack and his head drop. She’s off the boulders and running towards the camp before the sniper’s rifle slips off the platform and falls to the ground.

 

She's not sure what her plan is once she makes it into the camp, but she knows she needs to find this Rett and kill him. 

 

...

 

"Almost there."  Taryl hears the driver shout from the driver window. He looks over to his left to see the battle still going, but there are far fewer colonists fighting.  He sees their towers mostly destroyed, small fires and lots of bodies everywhere, including his comrades.  He shakes his head.

 

"They really gave us a fight."  He mumbles in mild disbelief.  "I'm sure your beloved is somewhere out there hacked to pieces."  He chuckles as he gives Lia a small kick.

 

Lia's heart clinches at his words and she bites back a sob.

 

"You animal."  She breathes out weakly.

 

...

 

As Kip nears the enemy camp perimeter, a deep rumbling catches her attention and she looks towards it to see a truck coming towards the enemy camp from the opposite side. She continues to watch, wishing she had thought to bring a spyglass with her as she sees it pull into the center and a handful of big Alphas jump out of the back. Her hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she sees the biggest one pull out something from the back.

 

Kip doesn’t need a spyglass to see who the person he pulls out is. She lets out a menacing growl as she clinches her jaw, draws her knife and goes to ground, intent on slaughtering anything that is in the way of her and her beloved Omega.

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Stay Awake, Stay Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far the darkest chapter yet. It will shock most of you, but I thought it necessary to the plot and development of what the post-apocalyptic world and its environment can produce. It will be hard to read, so be mindful of the rape/non-con warning. But also remember that Kip and Lia are endgame. 
> 
> Comments, rants, feedback, etc.. are especially welcomed on this chapter as it took a lot out of me to write...

Rya watches as his sister makes her way through the high brush. He then turns towards the ladder and begins to climb down when something on the horizon in the direction and proximity of their colony catches his eye. A large plume of smoke bellows heavily and he instantly knows it is a structure fire. He holds his arm to his body and makes his way down the ladder one-handed, his sister momentarily forgotten at the rising panic in his injured chest for his family.

 

He hits the ground with a thud and the pain nearly sends him unconscious. The bleeding is beginning to cover his entire upper body and down his leg and he’s feeling light-headed. He finds the first colonist he can and asks where his father Tarin is. They are in the midst of holding off the present wave of invaders and Rya is torn between trying to gather a small group to go investigate the fire or just hope it is not the lodge or Kip’s archery shop.

 

He sighs in relief when he sees his father, Tarin picking off attackers from his position in the last intact bunker between the battlefield and medic tent.

 

“There’s a fire in Huron. I saw it from the tower.” He says as he reaches him and slumps down against the wall. Tarin turns after taking out another attacker.

 

He gets a look at his son and his eyes widen. He sets his rifle down and goes to him, pressing his palm into his chest wound. “We need to get you to the infirmary. I’ll see who I can get to go investigate the fire.” He says, worry evident in his voice. He helps his son up with effort and is surprised when there is no resistance. Surprise that only increases his concern.

 

“You have to make sure Sada…and my pups are okay.” Rya gets out weakly as he helps him to his feet.

 

They make it to the tent and Ty immediately begins to remove his vest and shirt to get to the wound. “Is there anyone that can travel to Huron? There’s a fire.” Tarin asks looking around at any able-bodied colonists near the tent.

 

“Take Cyrus and Tam, they can help.” Ty says, motioning to two teenaged beta boys who jump up eager to help out in the field.

 

“Thank you.” Tarin says and puts an arm on his son’s shoulder. Rya grabs it when he remembers Kip.

 

“Kip went to take out a sniper near the enemy camp.” He tells him as his head falls back in agony as Ty begins to treat his wound.

 

Tarin nods and tells him he’ll handle everything. Rya nods weakly as Ty’s resolute eyes look up at Tarin’s concerned ones. Unspoken words are exchanged by the doctor and Alpha father.

 

_‘He will be fine.’_

_‘He must be.’_

 

…

 

“Call the rest of the men back to break camp and have a few go retrieve the rest of the women at the hunting lodge in the wagons. We are getting the fuck out of here.” Rett tells Taryl as he approaches him with Lia. He did not anticipate this much loss and it is infuriating him. He just wants to get the rest of the women and get the hell out of here and back to his colony.

 

“Will do, Boss. She’s a wild one. Have fun.” Taryl chuckles.

 

Rett had heard the truck and had already sworn he’d kill Taryl if he didn’t deliver that Alpha bitch’s Omega mate. He knew better than to doubt his reliable right hand man though. He grins as he grabs the rope that binds Lia’s hands and rips her hood off.

 

“Micah wasn’t lying, you are beautiful.” He comments with a lecherous grin that makes Lia’s skin crawl and her stomach roil. She tries to put some distance between the giant, ugly bearded Alpha, but it is no use.

 

“The things I’m gonna do to you…” He says in a low, sinister sing-song tone.

 

…

 

Kip tracks Lia across the camp as Taryl leads her to the back tent. She watches as he gives the rope that ties her hands over to Rett. Rett pulls off the sack covering her face and Kip can see the tear streaks on her face, her ashen color. Her mind goes to her pups and everyone else in the cellar and her knees suddenly become weak with panic. _What if…_ Her mind races to all the possibilities, lighting of course on the worst one. What if he only wanted Lia? What if he killed them all?

 

Then she hears Rett speak to Lia and upon hearing Micah’s name, her eyes narrow and her heart begins to beat so hard it is the only thing she can hear.

 

“Get Tinus and Krus to pack up two horses and meet me in an hour. We’re heading out, lead the rest to pack up and follow the truck out with the women.” He instructs one of his Alphas as he jerks on the rope, leading Lia into his tent.

 

“Come on, I wanna get to know ya a bit before we leave.” He says, licking his lips slowly as he pulls on Lia’s rope.

 

“No…” She begs as she tries to pull away.

 

This spurs Kip into action as she climbs over the crates she was hiding behind. Not having the time for stealth any longer, she takes aim at one of the men next to the truck with her pistol, finally hitting him after three missed shots as she makes a beeline to the tent Rett just dragged Lia into. The sound of gunfire catches the remaining alphas’ attention and she puts down two more coming at her, one with a shot to the forehead, the other with two shots to the gut as he almost reaches her with an ax.

 

She slides her way into the tent just as Rett pulls his pistol out and aims it at the tent flap as it rips open. Kip raises hers immediately and fires, but it’s out of bullets.

 

Lia watches the whole scene play out with utter relief until she hears Kip’s gun clicking furiously, her Alpha’s eyes wide and panicked.

 

“NO!” Lia screams when Rett cocks his gun and laughs. “PLEASE!” She pleads as she struggles to stand with her hands still bound.

 

Rett continues to laugh as Krus and Tinus run into the tent, shock at the scene in front of them.

 

“You must be Kip.” Rett says, almost jovially as he keeps Kip pinned to her spot with the gun leveled at her heart. He knows she’s stupid enough to rush him so he pulls Lia in front of him quickly and puts the gun to her temple. “I was hoping you hadn’t died out in the battlefield so I can have the chance to meet you before I make your beloved Omega wish she were never born.” He laughs.

 

Krus and Tinus quickly grab Kip as she steps to Rett, punching her hard in the kidneys to get her to her knees. They have a hold on her arms, which are wrenched from her body when she collapses, sending jolts of white-hot pain through her injured arm.

 

“You’ve cost me several dozen men, three trucks and precious resources for your dirty, inbred women.” He snarls. “But this one… This one almost makes it all worth it.” He announces as he presses an opened mouth sloppy kiss to Lia’s neck. “Almost.”

 

Krus grabs Kip’s hair to force her head up as she reels from the pain in her arm and kidney. She strains against the alphas as she sees her beloved shivering and whimpering in abject fear, her own eyes beginning to water at the helplessness and fear she feels at not being able to do anything to save her Omega.

 

He kisses her again and Kip lunges towards him, ignoring the pain in her arm and sides, making him howl with laughter now. Lia struggles against his grasp, despite the gun to her head.

 

“Get her up.” He says, menacingly now, all trace of laughter gone. “You know what I hate most about female Alphas?” He asks rhetorically, with an acid edge to his tone. “They think they are equal to male Alphas. You think because you can make children it makes you like us?” He chides. “You’re still a weak minded, weak willed woman, just with something between your legs.” He stares hard at her for a good long second and Kip stares back, all the fury and frustration at her predicament reflecting in her darkened sea green eyes.

 

“Time for a lesson in the hierarchy of Alphas, you little bitch.” The Alpha announces with terrible calm. “You two take her out and chain her across one of the crates. Krus, you know how we treat uppity Alpha bitches.”

 

A sinister, inhuman smile slithers across Krus’ face that makes Lia’s blood run cold as she watches the Alphas begin to lift her beloved slightly to get her feet under her. With all the strength she can muster from her injured, weak from infection body, Kip pushes up and smacks the back of her head into Tinus’ nose sending him back a few steps. She pulls her knife from her belt they’d neglected to take from her, slashing Krus’ forearm as she tries to break free and get to Lia.

 

Suddenly her world goes dark as Rett shoves Lia to the ground and slams the butt of his pistol into Kip’s temple, rendering her stunned enough to go limp, but not completely unconscious. Tinus and Krus get control of her again and drag her out to the courtyard as Rett curses angrily and pulls Lia back up dragging her out of the tent.

 

“You’re gonna watch this too, sweetheart.” He growls.

 

…

 

 

Tarin, a colonist from one of the southern colonies and the two teenage betas are on horses, galloping towards the river when they are joined by Chase and San. “The invaders are pulling out and sending a couple of wagons this direction. My guess is they are looking for the Omegas.” Chase reports, remembering what Kip had said about Rett’s objectives and the suspicion that Klekut talked before being killed, possibly giving up whereabouts of the rest of the women.

 

“We’ll have a few hours on them to decide how to deal with them, but we’ve got to get there. There’s a fire and we don’t know exactly where it is coming from.” Tarin explains over the rush of wind and sound of hooves hitting the soft ground in rapid succession.

 

“Of course. San and I will see if we can disable the wagons before they get too close. We’ll meet back at the hunting lodge if we are successful.” Chase replies.

 

“Alright. Good luck.” Tarin says with an earnest nod.

 

“You too.” Chase says with a small but genuine smile.

 

…

 

Kip struggles against the chains as she sees Rett take a seat on a crate and pull Lia into his lap. She squirms and tries to stand, but he grabs her by the neck and whispers something in her ear. She settles immediately, but her eyes take on a new kind of fear.

 

“I’m sorry.” Kip mouths as she looks at her beloved for most likely the last time. The fact that she failed to keep her safe feels like it could kill her alone, but if she is still breathing, she still has a chance.

 

She has no idea how to get out of this though as she pulls on the wrist shackles and chains that pull her arms over a crate and are affixed to the ground with heavy spikes. Her feet are still free and she hopes she can use that to her advantage. She assumes they mean to torture her by lashing her and then ultimately killing her in front of Lia.

 

“I love you.” Lia mouths back and Kip closes her eyes slowly, tears falling freely from her them now despite her best attempt at appearing strong. Perhaps if she can stay alive long enough, the rest of the colonists will advance and catch Rett before he tries to escape with Lia.

 

_That’s what I’ll do… I’ll hang on as long as I can. Rya knows where I am. It can’t be long before they follow the retreating cowards right into the camp…_

 

Suddenly, she feels her trousers being wrenched down and ripped from her body and her legs spread apart. Her eyes go wide and her breath is wrenched out of her in panic. She begins kicking frantically at the big Alpha, Krus, behind her but he just laughs.

 

She cranes her neck to better her aim, but he steps right out of range as he unbuckles his pants. Her attention is momentarily taken from what’s behind her and she screams in pain as she feels someone dig something into her arm wound that pins her it to the crate and she almost loses consciousness. She feels ropes being tied to her ankles and pulled taught as she feels something hard against her ass, the front of Krus’ thighs pressed against the back of hers. _No…_

Her mind and hearing tunnel and grow hazy as she tries to process what is happening. She hears the screams of her beloved and she turns to see her face, eyes wide, mouth open, screaming her name, tears streaming down her face as she is pinned in place on that animal’s lap.

 

“Don’t knot her, Krus, we gotta go soon.” She hears Rett laugh as hot, searing pain lances through her ass. Then she feels a leather strap being tied to her neck as the small gathering of Alphas begin to hoot and holler at the show, yelling, ‘Ride the Alpha bitch!’

 

 _Stay awake, stay alive…_ The mantra repeats in her head as she feels her self being slammed rhythmically against the crate and the strap tighten across her throat. Her eyes find Lia’s and she tries to keep them open as she watches her Omega struggle and scream and reach for her. But her vision becomes blurry as the strap tightens around her neck even more until all she can hear are the grunts of the animal behind her, impaling her and choking the life out of her.

 

_Stay awake… stay ali-…._


	12. What Fate Lies Ahead for Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to get another chapter up. Thanks for those that took the time to comment. I think I might have lost a few readers. Shame because there's much more to the story! Thanks to those who are continuing to read. Your comments keep me motivated too.

Rya is awakened by commotion outside the med building. He can’t sit up, so he turns his head to look out the window. He sees a few brown-skinned Alphas with long dark hair he doesn’t recognize. He panics for a moment until he sees Sid with them, speaking intently but cordially.

 

He then looks around inside the large room and sees that it is filled with beds, each one occupied.

 

“Ty.” He croaks out when he sees the doctor. He tries a little louder until Ty turns and graces him with a relieved smile.

 

“Rya.” She says as she comes to his bedside. “Good to see you awake.”

 

“Where’s my father?” He asks with effort as he looks back out the window.

 

Her face grows pensive as she looks out the window too. “I’ll go get Sid.” She says quickly and makes her way outside.

 

…

 

Sharp excruciating pain wakes Kip and she immediately thrashes against her restraints as she lets out a hoarse, pain-filled cry.

 

“Kip! Stay still.” She hears a vaguely familiar voice plead as she tries to pull at her shackles. She tries to bring her torso up, terrified, looking for the source of the voice. Everything suddenly comes back to her and she whips her head around, looking for Lia.

 

“LIA!” She tries to scream, but it comes out as a choked and strained.

 

“Kip, calm down.” The voice says again, slightly distracted as he moves around removing the rope from her legs. Once he’s done he quickly moves to her shackles, unlocking them one at a time as she watches him in shock. _Micah?_

Her mind is reeling wondering what Micah is doing here. He looks at her as he releases the last shackle and Kip can see the utter shame in his eyes.

 

She immediately puts things together, remembering Rett mentioning Micah’s name, thinking he hadn’t returned to the battle because he’d been killed. He must have been the one who told them where Lia was. It’s why he’s still alive in Rett’s camp. It was the only explanation.

 

Her pain is momentarily forgotten and as soon as Kip’s hands are free she pushes herself from her prone position across the crate and falls upon him, hands at his throat. His eyes are wide at the strength her body still possesses in its current state and he has a hard time prying her hands off his neck so he can speak.

 

“I can take you to her, but you have to let me up!” He croaks. She looks at him, her eyes bulging with incensed rage and he quickly repeats himself until he knows she has heard him. She slams his head down so hard he sees stars but he is relieved when she slides off of him and allows him to stand. She herself struggles to get on her feet and he looks at her again feeling abject shame for his actions and newfound empathy for what this Alpha female has just endured. He can’t take back what he’s done, but perhaps he can help before his actions become a permanent scar on his soul.

 

 

_After a few minutes of listening to a woman’s cries from his hiding place in the woods, Micah’s conscience finally wins out and gets the better of him. He makes his way back to Rett’s camp to see what is going on. In the cover of darkness he creeps up to the perimeter and peers through some crates until he pinpoints where the sound is coming from. What he sees horrifies him. He watches, mouth agape as what appears to be Krus, one of Rett’s favorites and a real monster raping and strangling Kip. Before Micah can even make a decision on what to do, her body goes limp. It is then that he realizes the screams were not coming from Kip, but from Lia, who was forced to watch the whole thing. He looks on in horror as Krus pulls out of the now dead Alpha and they all take turns spitting on her, laughing as Lia pushes off of Rett’s lap and tries to go to her. She’s shoved back near the front of Rett’s tent, dissolving into hysterical sobs._

_“Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’ll be next.” He hears Rett chuckle._

_Micah slides down the crate, holding back tears of guilt and remorse. Cal was right, what he did made him a monster, just like Rett._

_He makes himself watch silently as they packed up a few provisions and take off on horseback. He watches the path they take and sits for another fifteen minutes to make sure there is no one left in camp before he sneaks in to grab the horse they’d left behind so he could take it and ride back to Dakota colony to tell them that Kip was dead and Rett had taken Lia. It was the least he could do._

_As he passes Kip’s body and sees the state it is in, he couldn’t leave her uncovered so he tries to drape a blanket over her. Upon doing so he is shocked to find her still breathing, albeit shallowly, but she is alive. Without thought, he began to free her with the intention of helping her back to Dakota colony and the colonists could mount a party to go get Lia._

 

 

“I need pants.” She says in a weak, frantic voice as she finally stands, swaying as she tries to find her balance. He stares for just a moment at her bruised and bloodied upper thighs, the scene from earlier replaying in his mind.

 

“Yes.” He says finally snapping out of it and runs into Rett’s tent and luckily finds a pair. He barely gets them out towards her when she tears them out of his hands. She struggles mightily to get them on, but he’s reluctant to help out of fear of what she’ll do to him as she regains a bit of strength and lucidity.

 

“Take me.” She growls as she takes a slow step, wincing in agony as she reaches over to grab the dagger that was holding her arm to the crate earlier. He looks at her, not sure she’ll even be able to mount a horse let alone confront the Alphas. He knows he certainly didn’t want to, but he’d promised Cal.

 

“We should go to Dakota colony first, get some reinforcements. I don’t think you are in any shape to…” He starts out of concern staring at the angry deep, bloody scrape marks on her wrists, the arm wound bleeding freely and her badly bruised and burned neck when she raises the dagger at him menacingly.

 

“Take me now or I’ll kill you!” She yells hoarsely and looks him in the eye, fury and desperation the only thing keeping her on her feet. He’s pretty sure he can take her if she attacks him and just bring her to Dakota incapacitated, but he knows deep down if they take the time to go get reinforcements, it’s less likely they’ll find the same Lia that Rett took off with, that is if she doesn’t make him mad enough just to kill her after he’s had his fun.

 

“Can you ride?” He asks meekly, but she is already stalking towards the one horse that remains in camp. He quickly follows her, wordlessly helping her to mount the horse as she stifles a cry of pain once she’s settled.

 

They awkwardly situate themselves so that Kip is in the saddle and he is perched behind her. He knows she is in excruciating pain, but says nothing. As they make their way out of camp, they look around for any weapons but don’t see any. They must have taken them all with them or packed them in the crates already. Kip knows they only have a small amount of time before the Alphas start coming back from the battlefield to finish packing up their camp.

 

“I have Cal’s rifle and an extra pistol, over there in the woods about ten yards in.” He says as if reading Kip’s mind, pointing to the trees he was hiding out in. He can tell she’s reluctant to veer off course, not wanting to lose any time.

 

“They’re only ahead by a couple of miles or so. We need weapons. There were at least four of them.” Micah reasons. If he’s going to help, he wants to be armed. Finally, Kip turns the horse towards the trees.

 

“If we are too late to save her, I’m going to cut your throat.” She whispers harshly over her shoulder.

 

…

 

“Rya, you are awake.” Sid says with a smile. It is the second time someone has been relieved or surprised and it is getting on Rya’s nerves.

 

“Where’s my father? What of my family?” He asks quickly. Sid sits on the edge of the bed.

 

“Klekut’s clan came down through your colony and encountered the attackers trying to take the women and children from the hunting lodge. After they killed the attackers they ran into your father who was putting out a fire at Kip’s shop.” Sid reported. He put his hand around Rya’s forearm and Rya’s eyes widened in fear.

 

“Sada and your pups are alive.” He tells him quickly knowing that would be what he wants to know first. “But Sada is injured.”

 

Rya pulls his arm from Sid’s hand, taking in the information. “The rest of the people in the cellar? Kip’s family?” Rya asks hesitantly.

 

“I don’t know yet... I was getting the information from Sut.” He answers pointing to a male Alpha that looked quite a bit like Klekut.

 

“Is Sada still in Huron? How bad are her injuries? She’s with pups..” Rya asks in mild panic.

 

“She is being taken care of in Huron.” Sid answers. When Rya starts to struggle to get up, Ty comes to put a hand on his shoulder having overheard their conversation.

 

“Dr. Kosack is traveling there now. He’ll get her stabilized to move.” She reassures him.

 

When he continues to fight to get up, she puts aside her attempt at bedside manners and looks at her charge she’s known since birth sternly. “ _You_ will surely die if you try and get up from this bed before your blood transfusion is complete. Stay put or Sada will be raising your pups on her own.”

 

Rya eases back down with a grimace, near despondent at not being able to go to his family.

 

…

 

 

Kip spurs the horse on as fast as her body can physically take. Each time she comes down on the saddle makes her nauseous with pain, but she knows it will be nothing compared to what will happen if she loses Lia.

 

Her mind goes through all the ways in which she will make these men pay for what they’ve done, especially if they’ve already violated her mate. It leads her to think about how this happened in the first place. She needs Micah right now, but the second she doesn’t, he’s dead. In the meantime though, she wants some answers.

 

“How did you know where Lia was?” She asks over her shoulder.

 

The calm question takes Micah off guard and he takes a few seconds to answer, not even pretending not to know what she’s talking about. “I ran into Tad when he was bringing supplies to the cellar… I didn’t…” He starts to explain that it wasn’t his intention to tell Rett when she interrupts with another question.

 

“Is… are the rest dead?” She asks so hesitantly and quietly he closes his eyes, feeling such deep utter regret he loses his breath for a second.

 

“It would be his way… to kill them. He only wanted Lia.” He answers finally.

 

Her grasp on the reigns tighten and her eyes fill with tears of sorrow and rage as she fights the urge to knock him off the horse and stomp him to death, but she can’t expend the energy or time. She takes a deep breath, calming herself. She needs to save Lia. That is her only concern until she’s done just that.

 

…

 

It is nearing midnight so Rett and his small group of men decide to bed down and start up first thing in the morning, anticipating the last group of his Alpha fighters and the ones who went to retrieve the woman would join them by then.

 

Lia sits against a tree, numb, staring at the rope that binds her hands and feet.  Her eyes absently wander to the Alpha men as they go about setting up camp. She knows what fate lies ahead for her. She looks around for something sharp or dangerous, anything to end her suffering before it gets a whole lot worse.

 


	13. My Hand

Kip sees the fire first and slows the horse to a stop. “There’s their fire.” She says pointing to the small clearing. Micah looks over her shoulder and nods. The heat coming off the female Alpha is nearly stifling. They’ve had to go at a slower pace just so Kip could stay on the horse and Micah wonders if she has any strength at all to overpower the Alphas and rescue Lia, even with guns and the element of surprise.

 

She taps the horse with the reigns gently to get him moving again so they can get closer to their campsite.

 

“What’s your plan?” He asks quietly as they approach the last place to hide before they would be seen by anyone having a look around.

 

She slides gingerly off the horse, stumbling slightly but righting herself by catching the saddle horn with her uninjured arm.

 

“If they are asleep, I’m going to sneak in and slit their throats one by one. You shoot whoever wakes up.” She says in a cold whisper. “If they are awake, we’ll each take two and shoot them before they can move.”

 

He nods as she hands him the rifle. He takes it but in doing so grasps her hand and looks at her for a long second. She holds his gaze in slight exasperation, almost challenging.

 

“You haven’t asked me why I did it.” He states evenly. He thinks this might be the only time he’ll get to address it and he feels the need to explain. Give reason to his seemingly unconscionable act.

 

“I don’t care why.” She growls. He nods but doesn’t let go of her hand as she tries to move it away from his. Her eyes are on his, all fire. He’s undeterred however.

 

“When I snuck into camp to plant the truck bombs I was caught and brought into Rett’s tent. There Cal was, alive. Rett had cut out one of his eyes and his tongue and he was beaten badly. Rett said he left an eye because he wanted Cal to see what was going to happen to me if he found me.”

 

Kip’s eyes widen at this revelation and she begins to say something but he shakes his head vehemently and continues. “Rett gave me a choice. Tell him where your women were or he’d torture me to death and then kill Cal. I was angry that you lied, sure. But Cal was everything to me and I would have said anything, endured anything if it kept him alive.” Micah says with tears welling up in his eyes now.

 

Micah lets go of her hand and takes the rifle, studying it as he speaks again, answering the question he knows is next on Kip’s tongue.

 

“He killed himself when I went to collect firewood. We’d stolen away once the battle began. I didn’t want to leave him.” Micah says in quiet anguish, bringing his eyes up to hers finally. They were filled with pain and regret.

 

He doesn’t mention the crude note Cal had scratched into the dirt telling Micah how he didn’t want to live life disabled and couldn’t live with what Micah had done to save him. That he would carry himself until the end of his days.

 

“I’m sorry, Kip.” He says finally, earnestly.

 

“As am I.” She admits, her eyes steely, but her voice sincere.

 

He watches her as she pulls out a hunting knife from the saddlebag, the very knife that was used to pin her to the crate through her arm wound, and makes sure the pistol he’d given her is tucked tightly into her belt.

 

“Let’s go.” She says and Micah follows closely on her heels, crouching when they get close enough to hear the popping sounds of the dry wood in the fire.

 

Kip takes a knee and surveys the area. She spots Lia immediately off to the side looking like she’s tied to a tree. She’s slumped slightly and Kip’s heart nearly stops as she thinks perhaps she’s dead. She continues to watch her, breathless until she sees her move slightly. She let’s out the breath she was holding. She doesn’t know if it is a good sign she’s tied up alone or a bad sign. Either way, she’s still alive and she can see the four Alphas asleep on bedrolls around the fire, oblivious to their surroundings.

 

“There were only four, right?” Kip whispers, wanting to confirm there aren’t others out here.

 

“Yes, just four.” He answers.

 

She takes another moment to steel herself and without another word begins to creep up on the Alpha nearest her and farthest from the fire.

 

…

 

 

Lia is slumped against the tree again with new ropes to tie her arms and legs. But this time her arms are tied tightly behind her and she is tied to the tree, left to sleep in the dirt while the other men are all snoring away in warm, comfortable bedrolls. She’s bruised and sore and angry she’s still alive. She decides there’s nothing better to do than to sleep even though she knew tomorrow only held a new fresh hell for her. Perhaps she could just fall asleep and never wake up.

 

Her eyes flutter open when she feels her heart begin to pound rapidly. She thinks perhaps she was just dreaming, but something pulls her eyes out past the fire. She watches, her heart still pounding hard, but it isn’t out of fear, she realizes as she sees a figure creeping slowly towards Tinus. Her eyes widen and she bites back a gasp as the figure comes out of the shadows, into the firelight, deftly bringing a knife blade across his throat, clean and deep.

 

She is sure her eyes deceive her as she recognizes the face of her mate but then her scent hits Lia like a sudden summer storm and she chokes back a sob at seeing her beloved, alive, coming for her.

 

She watches, absolutely stock-still as Kip makes her way to another Alpha, cutting his throat as well. When it is done, she looks up to see Lia staring back at her, eyes awash in silent, shocked tears.

All Kip wants to do is go to her and untie her immediately and take her in her arms, but she’s not done yet. She goes to stand to make her way to Krus, who she can make out from the thick shock of black hair peeking out from under his bedroll. How she’d love to take her time with him, cut his ears off, then his fingers, ending with his dick and shoving it in his mouth and watching as he bleeds to death, but making sure Lia is safe is more important than the long, slow torture she’d like to inflict on him.

 

Still, she does want him to know who it is who killed him. She turns to see Micah just outside the perimeter and she motions for him to aim at a still sleeping Rett. He nods and takes a better position.

 

She gives Lia a long look, her eyes asking for permission or expressing shame, Lia can’t discern, but as if reading Kip’s mind, she nods slowly, her eyes filled with love, concern, understanding.

 

In a swift motion she straddles the large Alpha, essentially pinning him in his bedroll. As he starts awake, confused, thrashing to free himself, she pulls the blanket down just enough so he can see her clearly. She’s so weak, he nearly bucks her off, but she regains her balance. He takes a breath to call out, but she covers his mouth with her right hand, the movement and pain it takes almost overwhelming her.

 

“You die at _my_ hand, you fucking pig…” She spits at him through clenched teeth as she drives the knife into his throat. Her hand slips off his mouth and he immediately begins gurgling blood, eyes wide with shock, pain.

 

She watches, face devoid of emotion, as he takes his last excruciating and labored breaths. She slides off of him once they cease, spent and near unconsciousness.

 

She’s barely aware of what happens next as she sees Micah from the corner of her eye take aim with his rifle. She hears the shot before she can see what he’s shooting at but hears a thud right next to her. It is Rett with a gut shot. She tries to finish him off, but doesn’t have the strength, collapsing next to him.

 

Her world continues to get darker and fuzzier but she tries to fight it. She hears Micah’s voice, firm and cold. She sees a bit of commotion around Rett and then Micah disappears.

 

She then hears Lia’s voice right next to her, joyful astonished at first but then growing concerned, alarmed, saying her name again and again and then hands on her, but they are gentle, cool, soft, welcomed. She tries to stay awake but it’s so hard.

 

“Beloved, please. Please…” Lia pleads with her as she holds her, stroking her pale, overheated skin.

 

She can hear Micah moving about the camp and sees him as he drops down next to her with a couple of bedrolls and some rope.

 

“I need to get her some water, help cool her down first.” Lia says, stepping over Rett’s tied up form to collect their canteens, ignoring his moans and cries for help. She soaks some rags and places them on Kip’s face and neck. They both know the only thing that will save her is to get her to Dakota as quickly as possible.

 

“I’ll tie her to a horse and you can ride behind her, make sure she doesn’t slip off.” Micah says as she goes to get one of the horses.

 

She nods and resoaks the rags as Kip regains a bit of consciousness.

 

“Did he… Did he…” She tries to get out, a pained look in her eyes as they try and focus on the Omega.

 

Lia knows immediately what she’s trying to ask and just shakes her head quickly. The relief in her Alpha’s eyes brings a mild stab of pain in her heart and she gives her a small, pained smile. She then leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead, a single tear slipping down onto her beloved’s fevered skin.

 

“The pups?” Kip asks in barely a whisper, but before Lia can tell her she doesn’t know, the Alpha has passed out completely.

 

…

 

They make it back to Dakota colony before sunrise so are spared a full visual of the battlefield. Lia’s only concern right now is getting Kip to the medical building. She’s been monitoring her breathing and pulse the whole trip, beginning to panic as it grows more shallow by the moment. She trots on ahead of Micah, who had tied Rett to his horse, intending to drag the monster right through Dakota and Huron Colony and then leave his carcass in the woods for the animals.

 

Once she’s outside the building, she quickly slips off and calls for help. She’s relieved to see her brother Sid and a few Alpha faces she’s never seen before.

 

“Lia!” He says, eyes shining with joy and relief as they embrace quickly. He steps back and allows the other Alphas to help Kip down off the horse.

 

Lia follows them into the building, Sid behind her as she looks around for Ty. She sees Rya and Chase in beds next to each other and goes to them quickly as she is joined by Sid.

 

“Are you two alright?” She asks in concern. They both nod.

 

“We will be. Kip? What happened?” Rya asks.

 

Lia looks over at her as Ty and Dr. Kosack begin assessing her. “She… came for me when Rett took me…” Lia starts, her eyes watching as they begin removing her Alpha’s clothing. She sees the blood-soaked pants as they are cut off of her and her heart goes to her throat and she rushes over.

 

Dr. Kosack is in the process of turning her over on her side when Lia stops him. She is near tears as she quietly explains to him and Ty what Kip had endured. They both listen, lips pursed and eyes sympathetic.

 

“We’ll take care of her, Lia.” Ty says and calls over two assistants to bring a privacy screen over. She nods in relief and looks at her beloved who is still unconscious.

 

“Lia, let us do our job. We’ll call you over once she’s settled, okay?” Dr. Kosack says gently. Lia nods and steps away reluctantly.

 

Now that Kip is being taken care of, she needs to know what happened to her pups and everyone else in the cellar. She turns to head back towards Rya, Chase and Sid, her heart already heavy and filled with dread.

 


	14. Mixed News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know. Next one will be a bit longer and have a bit of a time jump.

Lia watches Sid’s eyes drop as she approaches and an instant lump forms in her throat. She’s already beginning to tear up as he slowly makes his way to her, meeting her in the middle.

 

He takes her hands and she begins to cry, losing her ability to stand. He quickly guides her to a chair. She looks up at him, eyes clouded with tears. “Tell me.” She says quietly.

 

He takes a deep breath. His news is mixed but he knows what she wants to hear first. He looks at her with mild joy, happy to give her this news.

 

“Your pups are okay. Very minor cuts and scrapes from when they had to be hurried out to escape the fire.” He says simply. The relief in her eyes as she takes in a surprised, elated gasp almost makes him hold off his other news, but he wants to be the one to tell her.

 

“And the rest of them?” She asks hurriedly.

 

“Sada suffered some injuries, but Elder Clya and Dr. Kosack say she’s going to be fine as are the pups she’s carrying. Jia and the rest of the pups are all fine too.” He says and when her face splits into a huge grin, he squeezes her arm and looks at her carefully. Her smile drops.

 

“Tad didn’t make it. He was consumed by the fire. Lela said he was unconscious though. She tried to get to him, but it was too smoky and hot.” He says solemnly.

 

Her eyes begin filling anew. “He… tried to help.. The man who took me knocked him unconscious.” Her hand goes to her mouth as guilt filled her thoughts.

 

“Lia.” He says gently, getting her attention. She looks up and sees he’s not done with his terrible news. She purses her lips and straightens up, readying herself for what he’s about to say.

 

“Father…” Is all he gets out and Lia begins to sob quietly and in earnest. He pulls her close and they hug for a good few minutes as he lets his sister process the news.

 

After a while she brings her head up from his shoulder and he looks at her with warm, gentle eyes. He’s surprised when hers begin to clear and she gives his shoulders a comforting squeeze, he’s instantly made aware of how much his sister has grown and matured, no longer the doted upon sweet, innocent, slightly spoiled little Omega but a strong, resilient young mother.

 

“Where is everyone now?” She asks as she wipes her eyes and looks over to the partition where Ty and Dr. Kosack are still treating Kip.

 

“As you saw, there were some Alpha’s not from here. They are from Klekut’s clan and believe me when I tell you they came in the knick of time. They were able to intercept the rest of Rett’s crew that were on their way to the hunting lodge. Killed every last one to revenge Klekut’s death.” He says, his voice taking on a tone of amazement.

 

Lia nods, a look of relief washing over her face. “Where is Sada now and our pups?” She asks.

 

“Dr. Kosack just came from there and said they would bring Sada here tomorrow so she could continue to recover in the med building.” He says. He sees a wagon pulling up to the building and his smile grows as he sees Kip’s father jump out.

 

“And I think your pups are in that wagon.” He says and Lia’s head whips around to the window. She jumps up and gives him a quick hug and hurries out the door. He watches with a smile as she runs to the back, clapping her hands over her mouth in utter joy and relief and climbs in, pulling each one into her arms. A steady stream of relieved tears falls down her cheeks as she takes each one and kisses their faces, checking them over for herself to make sure they are okay as they whimper and coo at being back in their mother's arms. She was really not sure if she would ever see them again and her heart is near bursting with joy at being reunited with them.

 

“I can’t thank you enough for… everything.” She says to the Beta as she pulls her into a tight hug and looks on at her friend's pups who look tired, but otherwise unharmed. "And you two. So brave. I'm glad you two are alright." She beams with relief through her tears.

 

“I’m so glad you are okay.” Jia says, shaking her head in mild disbelieve. “I thought… I thought….” She couldn’t finish the words, figuring her friend had met a horrible demise at the hands of those animals.

 

“Kip came for me. She saved me.” Lia says, her emotions coming back to the surface as she thinks about her Alpha and what she endured.

 

“Do you know.. Have you seen Karn?” Jia asks with quiet hopefulness.

 

Lia shakes her head slowly. “I haven’t. Perhaps Sid or Tarin saw him?” She answers encouragingly.

 

“Okay, I’ll go ask.” She says as she makes her way to the end of the wagon.

 

Lia looks through the window and sees the partition is still up around her mate. “I’ll come with you.” She says and begins to search for something to set her pups in.

 

“Mine will watch them.” Jia says and her pups Charlie and Sey nod.

 

The women are just about to enter the building when Ty intercepts Lia, asking her to come with her quickly. Jia nods for her to go. “I’m okay. Go to Kip.”

 

 

Once it is just the two of them, Ty begins to talk. “We were able to clean out the wounds to her backside. It was mostly bruising but there were some tears and we are watching for infection there.” Ty says, her head turned towards Lia in a discreet volume. “But it is her arm wound that has us the most worried.”

 

They approach Kip’s bedside and Lia takes in a deep breath at the sight of her beloved, cleaned up now, but still feverish, pale and still unconscious.

 

“We aren’t sure we can save it.” Ty says bluntly.

 

Lia’s eyes tear from Kip to Ty and then to Dr. Kosack who is standing next to Ty now. “What?” She asks dumbly.

 

“The infection. It is very bad and that wound, it has been reopened. The muscles are shredded… I don’t think…” Dr. Kosack answers but is stopped short by Lia’s words.

 

“No! You cannot cut off her arm!” She says loudly. She looks down at Kip, not believing what she’s hearing.

 

“To guarantee her survival, we need to get rid of the source of infection. Otherwise, her chances are reduced.” Ty says firmly but with sympathy.

 

She looks between the two, incredulous. “And what then? She wakes up with no arm and you think that won’t kill her?! She’s an Alpha! You think she’ll be okay with that?” She derides.

 

If there’s one thing she knows, it’s that Kip would rather die than lose her entire arm. Lia could absolutely deal with Kip having one arm if it saved her life, but she knows that Kip could not. She wouldn’t be able to string bows, hunt, hold her pups, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself or her family properly. She wouldn’t see herself as an Alpha anymore and she knows that would kill her mate. And after what she went through at the hands of those monsters… To lose her arm on top of that? It went beyond knowing Kip would resent her for letting them do it, she could deal with that too. She knew that if Kip was awake and could make the choice, she’d never chose to let them cut her arm off, no matter what, and Lia had no choice but to respect that.

 

“No. We give her as many antibiotics her system can take and we wait.” Lia says vehemently, looking at both doctors with a challenging glare.

 

It is Ty who relents. She knows that Lia is right about the Alpha, but as a doctor, her job is to give her patients the best chance at survival. But she knows that Alphas who become disabled have an incredibly hard time getting back to themselves, if they do at all. Most kill themselves eventually, depending on severity of the disability and Ty could not watch Kip and her family go through that kind of hell.

 

“Alright, Lia. We will do all we can. She’s going to be here for a while, so plan for that.” Ty says with a deep sigh. Dr. Kosack just shakes his head slowly and excuses himself to check on other patients.

 

“I know you will Ty. Thank you.” Lia says with a tired, relieved smile.

 

“Sit with her now, see if you can get her to wake up. Even though you’ve made the decision for her, and I’ll abide by it, I’d like to see if we can get her consent.” Ty says before going off to scour the supply room for any more antibiotics she could use.

 

Lia pulls up a chair next to Kip’s good arm and lays her hands on her bicep, disheartened when she still feels the intense heat coming from her body as it fights the infection ravaging it. She looks over at the pan of cold water with a cloth in it and grabs it with one hand, squeezes it out and places it on her forehead.

 

“Oh, Kip. Please wake up.” She pleads. After a moment of her plea going unanswered, she’s taken by surprise when her body is wracked with quiet, muted sobs as she tries to push out impending thoughts of a future without her beloved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think of Lia's decision about Kip's arm? Was it the wrong one? The right one??


	15. Reeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not all is smooth sailing yet... and a sad revelation. Thanks for the comments. The more I get, the faster I seem to write! Thanks for continuing to read. I know it has been a bumpy road, but I do think it will be worth it all in the end. The light is always lighter when one has experienced the darkest of the dark.

Even as hours and days pass, Lia feels like time is standing still. She spends as much time as she can at Kip’s side, forever grateful for the help her former colony friends and neighbors offer in watching the pups even when their own lives are in such upheaval. They know they owe a very large debt of gratitude to the young Alpha who led them in defending their colony.

 

She does bring the pups in for a few minutes a day, hoping the sound of them cooing and laughing, even crying will rouse Kip from her slumber, but to no avail. There’s been only the slightest bit of change in her condition, but Ty continues to assure LIa that her body is fighting valiantly.

 

“Just because she’s unconscious doesn’t mean she can’t hear you… isn’t fighting to get back to you and your family.” Ty gently reminds the Omega.

 

After watching a broken-hearted Jia and her pups travel back to Huron without her mate Karn and then seeing a battered Sada brought in to recover next to Rya, she knows things could be worse for her.

 

She’d overheard people talking about the amount of loss the surrounding colonies that joined the battle incurred and she knew that there was to be a meeting between all of the surviving elders on what comes next. Some colonies lost up to half of their Alphas and there was real concern about being able to function as independent colonies with that kind of loss.

 

There was also the issue of trying to find a way for this never to happen again. It was because so many colonies were too afraid to stand up to Rett and his men that they had grown so powerful.

 

But all of this could wait as far as Lia was concerned. She needs her Alpha back, strong and healthy and whole, then they would deal with what is to come.

 

 

…

 

The first thing Kip realizes as she begins to come to is how incredibly thirsty she is. She tries to open her eyes, but her lids are too heavy. She swallows, wincing as her dry throat burns at the action. She concentrates on trying to hear what’s around her. It’s quiet mostly. She hears faint clinking sounds and rustling of fabric. Murmurs and soft-soled shoes moving about a wooden floor. Then she concentrates on scent and she immediately knows she’s in the medical building in Dakota territory.

 

Everything comes rushing back to her and she forces her eyes open, swallowing repeatedly to try and get moisture into her throat to speak.

 

“Lia.” She says with much effort but it only comes out as a whispery croak. Her eyes dart around and finally land on someone rushing to the foot of her bed.

 

“KIP!” Lia cries. She’d just returned from feeding and putting the pups down for a nap and was coming back to sit with her beloved.

 

Lia’s eyes fly around the room until they spot Dr. Kosack. She calls over to him, forgetting she’s in medical. “She’s awake!” She tells him excitedly as he makes his way over with a cautious smile.

 

Lia rushes to her side, putting a tender hand on her forehead, eyes shining with utter joy. “Welcome back.” She says with emotion.

 

Kip stares at her for a moment and then tries to speak, but finds it too painful on her throat. Lia immediately notices and pours her a cup of water and brings her head up with her hand, holding the cup to her mate’s lips. Kip drinks greedily until Dr. Kosack puts a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Easy Kip, not too much or you’ll vomit it back up. That’s the last thing you want to put your throat through right now.” He says with a gentle smirk as Lia pulls the cup away slowly. Kip takes a few swallows and finds her throat lubricated enough to attempt to talk.

 

“Are you okay?” Is the first thing Kip asks and Lia smiles and nods.

 

“Now that you are awake.” She replies.

“And the pups?” Kip asks, eyes glued to Lia’s.

 

“They are fine.” She reports with a happy sigh. Kip’s head falls back and she closes her eyes in relief.

 

“How long have I been out?” She asks after a beat.

 

Lia almost misses the question she’s so caught up in wonder at her mate being awake and alert.

 

“You’ve been out almost a week. You’re arm, you had a very bad infection and Ty and Dr. Kosack worked hard to treat you with antibiotics and your body did the rest.” Lia smiles, looking up at Dr. Kosack who nodded and gave her a knowing smile back.

 

“If it wasn’t for this one, we would have taken that arm off. But she insisted you were too mean and tough to die, so we left it on. You are going to have a long road to recovery though until you regain full use. Even then, it will never be as strong as it once was.” He warns, ever the pragmatic doctor.

 

Kip takes in the information, nodding solemnly when the doctor goes back to finishing up his quick exam of her arm and vitals.

 

“How are you feeling… every where else?” He asks gently, his eyes kind, understanding. Kip shifts and feels a pad between her legs, near her rear and instantly realizes what he’s referring to. Her face turns flush, with anger or embarrassment, Lia can’t tell. She puts a hand on her arm, her heart breaking when Kip flinches away.

 

“I’m fine.” She answers tersely. “When can I leave?”

 

Lia’s eyes go wide at her tone, but she says nothing. Dr. Kosack doesn’t seem to take offense either.

 

“We need to monitor you for another 24 hours and then you are safe to go. You’ll need further treatment for your arm of course, so go easy on it, keep it in a sling until Ty or I tell you otherwise.” He tells her.

 

She looks away towards the window, scowling deeply and Dr. Kosack clears his throat to get her attention. “You’d do better to put your Alpha pride aside and do what’s best for your health, now that you are regaining it. Your mate has been through enough wondering for nearly a week if she made the right decision to fight for your arm. Don’t be an idiot and lose it in the end. Keep it in a sling and let it heal.” He levels his eyes at the Alpha for a good few seconds before turning to attend to other patients, leaving Kip and Lia a bit shocked at his uncharacteristic outburst.

 

Lia had a feeling that the doctor figured Kip’s sudden mood and tone change had more to do with the reference of her rape injuries than her arm, but Lia’s glad for Dr. Kosack’s frank words. He obviously knows Alphas and how they think, from treating so many. She’s pretty sure he’s never treated one who has been raped before though.

 

As she looks at her mate who cannot even look at her now, she has a feeling this was going to be an uphill battle, for more reasons than one.

 

“I’m going to bring the pups by when they wake.” Lia says once again putting her hand on Kip’s arm. She tenses but doesn’t move it away.

 

“I’d like that, thank you.” Kip says, finally looking at her Omega. “I’m sorry.” She says simply, eyes dropping to her own chest.

 

“Hey.” Lia says gently to get her mate’s attention. When she looks back up, Lia moves in slowly, putting her lips tenderly on her Alpha’s. When she pulls back, her eyes are shining with love. “I love you. You are my Alpha. I am your Omega.” She says with quiet conviction.

 

Kip looks at her for a long second, misty green eyes searching the Omega’s caramel ones. She pulls her arm out from under Lia’s hand and Lia frowns until she feels it come around the back of her head, pulling her in for a deeper kiss filled with sadness, relief but most of all love.

 

…

 

Kip wakes up when she feels a weight pressed into her left side, between her good arm and her side. She smiles and opens her eyes immediately when she smells the sweet powdery scent of Critter.

 

She curls her arm around him and holds him to her chest, bringing her nose down into his thin, short wavy locks, breathing him in and kissing his head.

 

“Hey little man, I missed you sooo much.” She coos as he lifts his head and begins pinching her cheek and nose. She chuckles. “It’s like he’s making sure I’m really here.” She says, looking up to Lia who’s eyes are shiny with unshed tears at the little reunion. She pulls the little wagon closer so she can swap out one pup with the next until they all get individual hugs and kisses.

 

When she puts Risa on her though, she immediately begins to try and suckle and Kip looks at Lia absolutely petrified. “I think she wants to nurse.” She says and motions for Lia to take her.

 

Lia is a bit surprised at Kip’s reaction, but quickly surmises she’s not in any condition to nurse the six month old. She gives her an easy grin. “This one is always hungry, just like her matra.” She giggles as she puts Claran back on Kip, puts Critter in the wagon and pulls her blouse apart so she can nurse her.

 

Kip looks on with a small smile. “I love watching you feed them.” She says quietly. Lia just smiles and reaches with her free hand for Kip’s hand that is curled protectively around Claran so he won’t roll off the bed.

 

“Soon you’ll be able to again.” She says, looking down at Risa, missing the conflicted look on Kip’s face.

 

…

 

 

Lia hears Kip enter the house, curse loudly and then a series of thuds. She has learned her lesson over the last month and remains where she is instead of rushing to ask if she needs help. She’ll only get yelled at. So she quickly gets up and closes the nursery door so the pups can’t hear it. She takes a deep breath and continues folding and putting away the pups’ diapers and clothes.

 

It’s been a month since the fight and two weeks since they’ve been back home and Kip has been trying to do what she can to demo away the destroyed part of her shop so she can begin rebuilding.

 

The clearing, claiming of bodies and disposal of the enemy corpses as well as the funerals for Tad, Peet, Ki and all the other colonists, too many colonists, really took a toll on everyone the couple of weeks, but after the all-elder meetings were concluded, people began getting to work, collecting and repurposing all of the battlefield materials, including what was found at Rett’s camp.

 

The only real building damage was to Kip’s shop but with the limited Alpha population, there wasn’t as much help available as she needed, especially only having the use of one arm for a while. San was busy helping with battlefield clean up as was Sid while Rya and Chase were still recovering from their injuries.

 

That left a few Beta men who normally didn’t do much handiwork and Kip, and her patience with them and herself was waning quickly.

 

“Lia!” She hears her name being bellowed and drops the diaper she was folding to go to her Alpha.

 

“Where’s my other suspenders?” She asks as she comes out of the bedroom.

 

Lia brushes past her and goes to the small armoire and takes them off the hook on the back of the door. She hands them to her without a word, barely slowing down on her way back to the pups and her laundry.

 

“Thanks.” She offers quietly and it is almost enough to make Lia turn around and smile at her Alpha. Almost.

 

She rounds the doorway and shuts the door, hoping her mate will follow her and make more of an effort to communicate, but instead she hears the front door open and close.

 

 

Later that night, after the pups are fed (Kip still refusing to breastfeed) and bathed and the Alpha and Omega climb into bed, a heavy silence fills the air as they both lie on their backs, unable to sleep, unable to talk. It has been their routine since coming back home.

 

Lia knows that everyone is still reeling from the events of the last month and all of the tense months that led up to the battle. But the more time that passes without she and Kip talking about what they went through the more she fears the mental and emotional toll it took on her and especially Kip might be insurmountable.

 

They’ve functioned as mates in the caring of the pups and keeping up the household, but as for their ample affection and warmth towards each other, it has all but disappeared and been replaced by Kip’s reticent behavior and short temper and Lia’s constant worry and feeling of helplessness.

 

Lia wonders if their physical bond might open the lines of communication and for the past couple of weeks she’s been torn between reaching out to Kip first or encouraging her mate to make the first move. She doesn’t know if her effort will even be welcomed though and even more distressing, she’s not sure how she’ll react to Kip’s. Simply put, she misses her Alpha’s touch desperately, but is afraid of what her touch will elicit.

 

Eventually, she hears Kip’s breathing even out as she continues to think through what she could do to get them back to where they were before all of this happened. There is one thing she is sure of though and that is she will never tell Kip the truth of what happened the night she came to rescue her, for she is absolutely convinced that it would break Kip completely.

 


	16. I'm Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some cute scenes and some healing is beginning but there is also a flashback scene of what happened to Lia (not too graphic though), so archive warning applies.
> 
> Hang in there.. They still have a bit to go, but things will be good again soon, I promise.

Kip steps off the ladder and stretches her arm a bit, and she can’t help but grin when it only twinges instead of hurts. She’s only been out of the sling for two days and is already putting the freshly healed muscles to use as she continues work on her shop.

 

She looks up at the sun and sees it’s pretty much straight above her so she puts the hammer back in her tool belt and unbuckles it, hanging it on a ladder wrung.

 

She makes her way back to the house and as she steps onto the porch she can smell the delicious stew Lia had started this morning.

Her thoughts immediately go to her mate and her light mood turns introspective as she thinks about the state of their relationship, knowing she is a big cause of why it has been so strained.

 

Now that her arm is finally beginning to heal and she is more mobile and physically capable of doing more, she’s beginning to get back a bit of the identity she felt she’d lost as an Alpha.

 

But try as she might, she couldn’t shake the notion that Lia thought less of her because of what happened in Rett’s camp. Early on, she’d thought just to ignore the sharp, burning feeling of shame she’d felt and just take Lia in their bed one night and show her she was still her Alpha, but something kept her from it.

 

Then as time went by and she got stronger and more confident, she thought Lia would give her a sign she wanted to be with her again, but it never came. They had started sleeping closer together, sometimes even entwined when they woke, but that was as far as it went and every time Kip thought to take things further, her insecurity at being viewed as less than the Alpha she once was would overwhelmed her.

 

But she knew they couldn’t continue like this. Something had to give and she felt guilty every time she’d catch Lia looking at her, seemingly afraid to bring up what happened. She couldn’t blame her mate, she’d been nearly insufferable the first couple of weeks after arriving back home.

She walks further into the main room and can hear Lia humming softly. She walks quietly to the nursery and stops just short of the door, smiling warmly at the scene in front of her.

 

Her own breasts twitch a bit as she sees Crit suckling lazily at her mate’s. Her own milk has since dried up, another thing she felt guilty about, but she just couldn’t bring herself to nurse again, the act leaving her feeling too vulnerable and un-Alpha-like.

 

She knew Lia didn’t understand as she was quite upset when she refused once they were home, but Kip had made sure to take care of all the solid food meals in the morning and evening, lessening the burden on Lia to try and make up for it.

 

“The stew smells amazing.” Kip says as she finally comes further into the room. Lia looks up at her and smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Kip slowly walks over and leans down, taking the now dozing pup from Lia’s arms and putting him in his crib. She then turns to her mate and holds out her hand, watching as Lia adjusts her bra and shirt back and then taking her hand and rising from the rocking chair.

 

“Come, let me get you some for lunch.” She says with a crooked smile that finally gets a more sincere smile from the Omega.

 

Kip directs her to sit once they are in the kitchen and Lia has to hold back a chuckle when Kip turns around a few times, trying to remember where the bowls were. Lia remains silent, content to watch her Alpha figure it out. She’s so pleased when Kip doesn’t get frustrated but instead taps her forehead ruefully when she finally opens the right cabinet.

 

“How did you manage before me, beloved?” The brunette asks, the almost dormant pet name falling easy from her tongue, tasting sweeter than it ever has when Kip looks up from the stew pot and pins her with a very intense look she feels down to her toes.

 

“I can’t recall, nor do I ever want to again.” The Alpha states seriously. The sweet, unexpected statement makes Lia draw in a quick breath.

 

“Well, if I have anything to say about it, you won’t.” She replies with an earnest smile. “But I am quite hungry, so, forks are on the right next to the sink.” She adds with mirth and Kip chuckles, both elated and relieved at the little breakthrough they’ve just had.

 

 

It carries on for the next couple of days and even though they haven’t broached the subject of what happened, they are beginning to take more time with each other, sharing quick kisses and lingering hugs when they are both taking care of the pups.

 

The pups are definitely a balm to their souls as they spend their evenings before bed on a large blanket spread out in the living room where they watch them as they begin learning how to crawl.

 

‘Of course it is Risa who gets it first’, Lia states, already claiming the girl is going to run the house before too long. Kip is forced to agree when she watches her two sons study their sister and begin mimicking her movements until they are all three wobbling around on their four limbs.

 

“Oh man… this house is about to become a complete disaster isn’t it?” Kip says as she watches her three pups go in three different directions, giggling and giddy at their newfound mobility.

 

“Alpha, you better get started on some gates and cabinet locks.” Lia says abruptly as she gets up to intercept Critter as he heads towards the fireplace.

 

“I’m on it, first thing tomorrow!” She calls as she paces down the hall, quicker than she thought she needed to as Risa heads towards the rifle that sits propped next to the back door.

 

 

“You did put the rifle up, right?” Lia asks as she climbs into bed. Kip nods and turns down the gas lamp and turns towards Lia.

 

“I promise I will pup proof this house before doing anything else tomorrow.” Kip says diligently.

 

Lia puts a hand to her cheek and gives her a sweet smile. “Thank you, Kip.”

 

The two share a long look and just as Kip is summing up the courage to lean in and give her Omega a meaningful kiss, they hear a muted thud and then a whimper.

 

Kip pulls back and rolls her eyes as they both groan knowingly.

 

“Claran.” They both say in unison.

 

“I’ll go. I’m the one who forgot to latch the top of his crib.” Kip says as she climbs out of bed.

 

She pads down to the nursery and sure enough their little climber has made it out of his crib. “Glad mama had the good sense to put a padded mat under your bed, little man.” She mumbles quietly as she picks him up and rocks him for a few minutes after inspecting him for any bumps or bruises. Once he’s fast asleep again she pulls over the top and secures the latches. She checks each of the other pups, watching each one for a few moments, shaking her head at how fast they are growing.

 

She makes her way back down to the bedroom, intent on finishing what she was trying to start with her mate, but when she gets to the door she sees that she is fast asleep. She sighs in disappointment as she gets back in bed, but she knows tomorrow is another day and she vows to try again the next night. She slides towards her Omega and curls herself around her, bringing her arm tightly around her waist and pushing her nose into her hair, falling asleep within a few minutes as well.

 

_“Let’s go.” Rett says as he pulls Lia up from her spot against the tree. So intent she was on finding something to end her pain she hadn’t seen him approach. She begins to fight him, but he just lets out a bark of laughter when she lands a hard kick to his thigh. “This is going to be fun.” He says as he drags her off away from the other Alpha men._

_She begins to panic, an all-encompassing dread so fierce and horrible she can’t catch her breath. All she wants to do is die, but she’s too scared to even think about that for the moment. He tosses her down onto a crude bed of blankets and straddles her with a knife._

_As he begins to cut away her ties, she remembers the sickening things he whispered in her ear as she was forced to sit in front of him on his horse. She could feel his penis pressing against her backside as he described how he was looking forward to her fighting and struggling saying how that just got him more excited._

_Once her hands were free, she thought to fight again, to scratch and kick, but he outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. As she watched him wide eyed as he began to undo his trousers, one of his hands around her neck, she forced herself to be calm. She decides to just let her mind and body go numb, just like she’d felt earlier. Perhaps if she didn’t fight, he wouldn’t be interested… Perhaps if she just laid there he’d be frustrated enough to just kill her._

Lia’s eyes pop open and she feels herself taking in deep, heated breaths. She looks around frantically until she realizes she’s in her bed and what she was experiencing was just a flashback dream. She pushes away tears with the heal of her hand, determined not to let that memory take away any more of her present. She’s safe, she’s in her Alpha’s arms, her pups are safe and healthy…

 

She feels Kip stir behind her and she turns onto her back. Figuring she is still asleep, Lia adjusts Kip’s hand so it is laying across her chest. Kip must have taken at as a sign to continue what they started earlier that night because suddenly she’s very aware that Kip is not asleep as her hand slides from her chest to low on her hip, gripping it tightly as she rises up on her elbow, taking the Omega’s lips with a bit of force. She feels Kip’s cock now too, stiff and straining her pajama pants.

 

“Lia.” She breathes as she pulls back, her eyes dark and shiny with need. Lia tries to take a breath, but Kip brings her mouth back to hers, pressing her tongue deep into Lia’s mouth.

 

Lia’s mind is overwhelmed as her body begins to respond to her Alpha, but with the flashback dream still so very fresh in her mind, she’s having a hard time relaxing. But she’s waited so long for Kip to make this move, she tries to push it out of her mind.

 

She begins to get lost in the kiss and moans when Kip brings her hand to her breast, squeezing gently. She even begins pulling up her nightgown past her waist, signaling to Kip that she’s ready to be touched. But Kip doesn’t touch her like she normally does. Instead she clumsily pushes down her pants and climbs on top of Lia, pushing her tip right up to her outer lips. Then one of Kip's hands goes around her throat, normally it is welcomed by Lia, but tonight, all it does is bring her right back to the woods, the dirty blankets and Rett on top of her. Suddenly, it’s too much for her and just as Kip pushes herself up on her other arm to look into Lia’s eyes, expecting to find love, relief, desire, she instead sees her Omega’s eyes flinch and her body go rigid. It’s fleeting but Kip notices it immediately.

 

“Lia?” She whispers, a silent plea as she releases her throat and holds herself stock still above the Omega.

 

“I’m okay.” She gets out, but she sounds unconvincing even to her own ears.

 

Kip looks at her, searching her eyes and Lia feels her heart pounding out of her chest. She was afraid of this and Kip couldn’t have wanted to be intimate at a worse time. She warred with herself to just let Kip continue and try to hide her discomfort or just tell her she wasn’t ready yet and risk making Kip feel worse than she could tell she already felt. She could only imagine what was going through the Alpha’s mind, but she felt powerless to reassure her right this moment with what she endured with Rett still so fresh in hers.

 

Kip ultimately makes the decision for them both as she leans down and gives Lia a timid, feather light kiss and slides off of her, pulling her pants up slowly and then gently pulling down Lia’s nightgown. Lia feels her heart breaking at the Alpha’s gentle ministrations and suddenly feels a well of anger begin to bubble up at what Rett and his men took from them. If they weren’t dead already she would want to hunt them down and torture them until they begged for mercy making sure to show them none in the end.

 

She watches as the Alpha turns away from her without another word and Lia can’t think of any comforting ones either, so she simply turns towards her Alpha, reaching around her strong waist and burying her nose into her back, smiling in relief as tears begin to form when Kip pulls her even closer, entwining their fingers together against her chest.


	17. Confirmation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, short chapter, but lots of plot movement and feels. The start of the light at the end of the tunnel. How much I continue after the next chapter depends on interest from you guys, so let me know your opinions!
> 
> Thanks and Happy Halloween!

Lia wakes to an empty bed and her heart instantly drops. She had hoped to talk to the Alpha first thing in the morning, or even perhaps coax her to trying to be intimate again, now that she has some separation from that awful dream last night, she thinks she can get through it. But she knows deep down, her Alpha won’t be trying again anytime soon. Her reaction last night made sure of that. She sighs deeply.

 

She makes her way out of bed and gets dressed for the day, surprised to see the sun is up so much and expecting Kip to already be out working on her shop, leaving her to check on the pups, who were sure to be up and ready to be changed and fed.

 

She’s surprised, delighted really, when she sees Kip still in her pajama pants and tank top with all three pups secured in their high chairs, in the kitchen each fisting up mashed fruit and porridge from their little trays into their mouths.

 

“I was just waiting for you to wake so I could get started on the pup proofing.” Kip says quickly as she rises from her chair, barely looking at her Omega.

 

When the Alpha had been awakened by Lia turning on her back and bringing her hand to her breast deep into the night, it made her whole body roar to life. It hadn’t taken much as she went to sleep already aroused, but when she had climbed on top of Lia, she saw what she most feared. She saw it in her eyes and felt it throughout her Omega’s body when it went rigid. She saw reluctance, aversion even at being with her after witnessing her dignity being taken from her by that monster. She couldn’t blame the Omega, really. Who’d want an Alpha that was so weak to let herself be violated like that?

 

“It can wait a bit, Kip. I want to talk to you.” Lia says as she takes a seat on the other side of her pups. She’s unable to keep a smile off her face as each pup notices her and begins making happy little noises with big, messy grins at her. Her attention quickly turns back to Kip though and she grabs the Alpha’s hand giving it a tug and making her sit back down. “Please Kip.”

 

Kip’s eyes go down to the table and Lia squeezes the hand she’s still got a hold of.

 

“I’m sorry about last night. You took me by surprise.” Lia says honestly. She wishes she could have found the words and composure last night, but she hopes to still get through to the Alpha that she still wants her, desires her.

 

She studies her mate, still not looking back up from the table. Her proud, sweet Alpha. “Kip.” Lia pleads. “Talk to me.”

 

Kip wants to believe her, she does. But she can’t help but think the Omega’s view of her has been permanently damaged. She can feel her anger begin to stir at the whole damn situation. _Not in front of the pups_. She’s barely got control of her emotions as it is as she dreamt all night of scenarios in which all Lia did was rebuff her.

 

“I’m going to go get started on the gates.” She says abruptly and pulls her hand away and stands, heading to the bedroom to get dressed.

 

Lia watches her but doesn’t give chase, doesn’t press her or demand she talk. She knows the Alpha won’t talk until she’s ready. She instead busies herself getting the pups cleaned up and dressed, deciding to head over to Sada’s for a play date.

 

…

 

Kip is nearly finished with the gate around the fireplace when her family finally comes in. She puts down her pliers and goes to help Lia bring the wagon in and as Lia enters the house all the way, she sees that Kip has indeed pup-proofed the house.

 

She turns and plants a solid kiss to her lips, getting a big smile from the Alpha. Lia smiles too, glad for the Alpha’s seemingly lighter mood.

 

“How are Rya and Sada?” Kip asks after she opens up the wagon top and brings Critter out, placing him in the new gated off area just for them.

 

“They are doing well. Sada is due in a few weeks, so they are getting excited.” She says as she watches each of the pups find their crawling positions and move about their little area. Kip had put all of their toys in there as well as some pillows and blankets.

 

“It all looks great, Kip.” Lia says, noting the new shelves and hooks for all of her hunting gear and of course the rifle. She never thought she’d see one in her home, but with all that has happened, they’ll never be without one again.

 

“Thanks.” She replies modestly.

 

“You okay?” Lia asks her when she catches her staring at the pups, her eyes turned pensive.

 

“Yes. Just glad you guys are home.” She says sincerely.

 

When she’d come out from getting dressed that morning, she wasn’t surprised to see Lia and the pups gone. She felt bad, felt like she’d chased them away, but in the end it was for the best. She’d started out chopping wood for the fireplace and stove, wanting to get it done and as she let her mind drift as she got into the rhythm of putting log onto stump and bringing the ax down, found herself being inundated with visions of her rape and then steadily growing more and more angry at herself.

 

She railed at herself mentally, swinging the ax viciously and cutting deep grooves into the stump thinking how she should have been counting bullets when she’d rushed into Rett’s tent. She should have been more careful, or more calculated when she saw that they had Lia… She should have fought harder when they dragged her out of the tent and chained her up.

 

But she'd gotten to Lia in time though and that should put her at ease, she felt, but for some reason it didn't. Something kept her from embracing even that wholeheartedly and it frustrated her and made her angry.

 

“Let’s put the pups down early tonight.” Lia says and turns to Kip, looking at her meaningfully. Kip gives her a small smile and nods.

 

 

Over dinner, just the two of them, they stay to topics that involve what had been going on in the colonies, each discussing the upcoming meeting to flesh out a plan to actually merge the hardest hit colonies and bringing the rest of their populations to build a colony between Huron and Dakota and put all three colonies under one leadership group.

 

With many lessons learned during the battle with Rett and his men, the idea of having colonies closer together travel-wise and under the same set of rules and standards would hopefully insure things like this wouldn’t happen again. The philosophy behind exiling would certainly be revisited. If Rett’s army wasn’t a cautionary tale about turning undesirables and criminals out on their own, they didn’t know what was.

 

There is also a plan in place to develop regular communication with all colonies within a two-day ride of each other and yearly meetings where they discuss issues that might affect them either separately or together.

 

“Have you heard from Micah?” Lia asks as they are cleaning up and Kip turns to her and shakes her head no. The Alpha had left pretty soon after he found out that Kip would be making a full recovery, saying he would return to help as needed. Lia remembers the rather cold goodbye her Alpha had given him and it always made her wonder why.

 

 

 

“He’s the one who told Rett where I was, wasn’t he?” Lia asks in a bit of epiphany. She knew they couldn’t have happened upon them by chance. It’s the first time she’s brought it up and Kip looks at her, surprised. She answers her reluctantly, again feeling that all of this was her fault.

 

“Yes. He’d found Cal alive and was angry. Rett offered to let them both go if he told him.” Kip replies, shame coloring her voice. “He felt bad though and ended up returning to camp. He’s the one who found me alive and let me go so we could go after you.” She adds.

 

Lia sits down heavily at this news. “And Cal now?” Lia asks, remembering he wasn’t seen or mentioned by Micah on their way back to Dakota colony when they were bringing an injured Kip back.

 

“He took his own life right as the battle began. Rett disfigured him after he captured him. He took his tongue and one of his eyes.” Kip tells her.

 

Lia shudders. _That monster’s cruelty knew no limits_.

 

“I wish I could have done the same to him before he died.” Lia says evenly, causing Kip to raise an eyebrow. She’s not used to her Omega saying such things and it breaks her heart how much she’s seen the last couple of months.

 

Kip comes to sit across from Lia and takes her hands. When Lia looks up, Kip sees something in her eyes she hadn’t seen before – a weariness to them, jaded even, and it triggers something from her subconscious.

 

‘I wish **_I_** could have done…’ reverberates in the Alpha’s mind. Then it quickly goes to last night, the look on Lia’s face when she got on top of her… She begins to feel her heart pound hard when she runs Lia’s body language and expression not through her own filter of Lia watching _her_ be raped, but of Lia’s possible _own_ experience… She barely recalls asking Lia if Rett had raped her… She remembered her saying no... had Lia answered truthfully?

 

Suddenly Kip felt ill. She releases Lia’s hands and stands up, going to the counter and putting her back to it. How had she not seen it? She scrubs her face trying to wrap her mind around Lia possibly lying to her about being raped by Rett. She begins to tear up. _But it all makes sense now._

 

“Kip? What is it?” Lia asks, standing up, alarmed.

 

Kip barely registers Lia getting up, asking her what’s wrong. _Why would she lie about that?_ Kip asks herself. But she knows. She knows instantly as she watches her beloved slowly move towards her now, eyes shining, plaintive, scared. _She did it to protect me and my fucking pride_.

 

Kip's heart shatters for her Omega, now that she sees the confirmation in those beautiful, expressive eyes.  _Oh, Lia._  

The Alpha pushes off the counter and closes the distance and wraps her Omega up in her strong arms and whispers into her ear. _“I'm so sorry you felt you couldn't tell me. I’m so sorry, Lia… I’m so sorry.”_ She says brokenly as she tightens her grip, bringing her hand to cradle the back of her mate’s head, feeling her body sag with relief as she quietly begins to sob into her Alpha’s neck.


	18. Unscathed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments. I think I have an idea for part 3. Kip and Lia are certainly doing better here, but there is one more issue that needs attention and will really test Kip's commitment to her colony and her mate....

Kip lies in bed listening to Lia wash up. She spends these few minutes alone, nearly crawling out of her skin with anger. If she’d known that Rett had violated her mate… she would have found a way, summoned the strength to inflict upon the Alpha every once of pain he brought to her Omega and others and then some.

 

Just thinking about it made her fingers tingle to dig into his skin, her knuckles ache to crash into bone and flesh and be painted in his blood until he was unrecognizable. The fact he was unconscious from loss of blood when Micah tied him to his horse and dragged him to Dakota was too good a death for him.

 

But she knew this anger, this thirst for revenge that could never be quenched would do Lia no good and as much as her heart was filled with righteous rage for her beloved, she knew what her Omega needed now was her love, support and commitment to doing whatever she needed her to do to make sure she felt safe again.

 

She smiles warmly as Lia comes out of the bathroom, her eyes a bit puffy and red, but clear. She’s in her favorite nightgown, the one she wears when she’s sick because it is extra soft and comfortable. Kip leans up and pulls the covers down and Lia slips in, not stopping until she is snuggled into Kip’s chest.

 

They lie in silence, Kip letting her Omega take the lead on talking if she wants. She gently strokes her mate’s hair until she thinks she’s asleep. She stops for a moment to listen to Lia’s breathing, but instead of deep even breaths, she begins to speak.

 

“When you asked me about it… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth. Not after seeing what you endured. I didn’t want to put you through that too.” Lia says, keeping her head tucked under Kip’s chin. Kip pulls her in tighter, kissing the top of her head.

 

Lia picks her head up after a beat and shakes it slowly in wonder, recalling the moment she realized Kip was alive and had come for her. “When I saw you in the fire light, I thought I was seeing a ghost… I thought they killed you.” Lia shudders at those hours she thought her Alpha, her pups were dead. A few tears start to gather in her eyes and run down her cheek. “But somehow… you came for me.” She says with awe.

 

“Nothing but death would have kept me from finding you Lia. Maybe not even then.” Kip says solemnly as she wipes them away. They look into each other’s eyes for a few more seconds before Kip speaks again, hesitantly.

 

“If you want to talk about what happened… with Rett…”

 

Lia puts a hand to Kip’s chest, stopping her. She can see in Kip’s eyes the battle her heart and mind are waging against each other. Wanting to know all she went through, but terrified to find out.

 

Kip didn’t get the option, it happened right in front of her eyes. If she could have had the choice to be spared the details of Kip’s rape, would she choose to remain in the dark?

 

She thinks she’d want to know if only to share the pain of what Kip went through. And in her situation, she doesn’t have to worry about Kip taking off to exact revenge, risking her life to do so. Lia knows she surely would. But Rett was already dead and so was Krus and it was a considerable measure of triumph and relief, if she’s being honest with herself.

 

She looks back up at Kip, taking in her expression of sympathy, love, fear. “I think I need to.” Lia confesses. Kip nods slowly her face going slack, preparing to hear Lia recount her horrible ordeal.

 

Her first instinct is to pull away from Kip, wanting to get some separation from her mate as she recalls the details of another Alpha being with her, but she fights it, thinking she’d rather be safe in her arms when she goes back to that horrible time and place. So she lies her head back down on Kip’s chest, right under her chin and places her hand over her breast so she can feel her heart beating.

 

She takes a deep breath and recounts how they stopped for the night and almost immediately he dragged her off and forced himself upon her. She told her how she didn’t fight, admitting she hoped he’d just kill her when she didn’t struggle, something he told her numerous times that he enjoyed. She also let her know that he didn’t knot her and that since she wasn’t in heat, there’s no chance of pregnancy. Lia felt a deep sigh of relief from her mate at that, the only positive about the whole situation. She couldn’t imagine having to carry pups from that monster. She didn’t think she could, actually.

 

Lia hesitates to look up into Kip’s eyes when she finishes speaking, not sure what she will find in them. _Is she angry I didn’t fight? Does she think I could have done more to stop him?_

“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you in time.” Kip says, voice full of anguish. Lia looks up then to see her Alpha with tears in her eyes.

 

“Kip, you got to me in time. I’m here, I’m with you.” She says, smiling with tears of her own now. Kip just brings her head up to kiss Lia tenderly on the forehead. There’s no use beating herself up for the timing. She couldn’t let it eat away at her. Lia was right, she was here, with her.

 

“How about we get some sleep, unless you want to talk anymore?” Kip asks with an infinite tenderness that makes Lia’s heart swell. She’d love for her beloved to open up about her traumatic experience as well, but she knows they’ve had enough for tonight.

 

“No, we should sleep. I’m sure the pups will have us up nice and early, as always.” Lia says and they both smile at the mention of their three sweet little offspring.

 

“Right.” Kip continues to grin softly. Lia reaches up and gives Kip a deep, meaningful kiss, bringing her hand up to cup the back of her head for a moment.

 

When she pulls back she whispers onto her lips. “I love you, Kip.”

 

Kip smiles a brilliant, dimpled smile and replies in kind.

 

They fall asleep almost immediately, not stirring until the dawn when Kip hears the pups cooing and laughing trying to break out of their cribs.

 

…

 

The next few days, Kip spends more time at home than at the shop. Lia doesn’t question it and Kip doesn’t give a reason.

 

“Why don’t you go have lunch with Jia and then head to the market. I’ll watch the pups.” Kip suggests when she sees Lia getting ready for her every other day trip to get fresh produce and bread for the house.

 

“Uh, okay.” Lia says, a pleased but hesitant smile on her face. She would love some time to herself and she hadn’t been able to check on Jia as often as she’d liked once things were back to normal, so to speak.

 

“You sure?” Lia asks as she watches her mate chase down a very fast Claran to get his diaper changed. She scoops him up and he whimpers until she holds him up and nibbles his belly, making him laugh. Kip pulls her head away with a look of disgust as she crinkles her nose comically.

 

“That was a dumb move.” She laughs, making Lia’s smile widen from ear to ear. Kip turns to answer her mate finally. “We’ll be fine.” She assures her with a goofy grin.

 

“I won’t be gone long.” She says bending to kiss Crit and Risa who have pulled themselves up on the little fence Kip built. She kisses Claran on the head and reaches for Kip’s jaw so she can place a quick kiss to her lips.

 

“Thank you.” She says with a grateful smile.

 

“Of course. Give her a hug from me and the pups.” Kip says over her shoulder as she carries Claran to the nursery.

 

Lia stands in the doorway a few more minutes with a goofy smile on her face, her heart full, before waving to the two little ones still standing at the fence giggling and then making her way to Jia’s.

 

 

“How are you?” Lia asks her friend as they sit down at a table next to the farmer’s market. It had taken some convincing for Jia to come out, but once she did, she thanked Lia for asking.

 

“I’m okay. The kids are doing better than I am, which is good. I’m trying to be strong for them, but at night…” Lia puts a hand on hers and looks at her with sympathy.

 

“And you and Kip?” Jia asks after a moment, studying the Omega’s eyes.

 

Lia had ended up telling Jia about what happened with Rett and how Kip had come for her even though Lia thought she was dead. She didn’t intend to tell Jia about her own rape (she’d left out that Kip had been raped too and told her she was tortured nearly to death) but when Jia had lashed out in pain and anger that both she and Kip came out unscathed, it elicited a very emotional response from Lia. Both women had had a good long cry in each other’s arms after that exchange and a deeper bond as a result.

 

“She found out… figured it out, really.” Lia says with a mildly rueful tone. She had told Jia of her decision to keep it from Kip, even gave her a half-truth answer about why she thought it best, but honestly, she’s glad Kip found out. The fact she figured it out just further solidified their bond in her mind and Lia decided Kip knowing what happened was the best case scenario for them after all in order for them both to heal.

 

“And?” Jia prompts, her eyes concerned.

 

“She’s been wonderful about it. Very patient, sweet. She’s angry of course and feels a lot of guilt, but she’s dealing with it. _We’re_ dealing with it.” Lia happily corrects herself. She wishes she could explain the depth of Kip’s strength to her friend, but she doesn’t want to divulge what had happened to Kip without her consent.

 

“I can’t imagine, Lia.” Jia says with a slow shake of her head.

 

“We will all feel the effects of what happened for a long time.” Lia comments sadly.

 

 

After bidding Jia goodbye after they spend another hour shopping together, Lia returns home to find her Alpha on the ground with the pups as they take turns crawling up and climbing up her back as she does pushups in the middle of their play area, careful not to crush them as they crawl under her or dump them as they hold onto her back for a short ride.

 

The amount of giggles and squeals has her holding her hand over her mouth at her own giggle as she continues to watch the scene silently from the door. As one climbs up, another crawls under Kip as she holds herself up until the pup finishes crawling under, then collapsing with a loud grunt that makes them laugh even more.

 

She watches for a few more moments until Risa looks over and notices her and crawls to the fence and climbs up, pointing and whimpering.

 

Kip notices and looks over and catches eyes with the Omega, giving her an impish grin. “Hi. Just doing some pushups.” Kip needlessly explains as she presses up from the floor to her feet in one fluid motion, making Claran and Crit clap and squeal in awe at the flourish of movement.

 

She climbs over the gate gingerly as Lia meets her a few steps in. Her hand goes to the newly healed bicep and she rubs it gently.

 

“How is it feeling?” She asks, noting the flush on Kip’s neck and chest from exertion.

 

“Good.” She answers slightly out of breath but smiling. “How was Jia?” Kip asks as she sees the bags still in the doorway. She goes to pick them up and bring them into the kitchen as Lia follows. She pleasantly notes the tingle in her belly that started as she was watching Kip doing pushups and growing still as she watches her taking the items out of the bags, her corded forearms shifting and flexing as she does.

 

“She’s doing okay. Getting better, but it is still hard.” Lia replies as she starts taking the items and putting them away until the pups start crying for her attention.

 

Kip puts away the items that she knows where they go and then joins her mate in the middle of their pups. They each sit, side by side as each one babbles away, supposedly about the hours they spent with their matra.

 

“Thanks again, for today.” Lia says as she leans in and brushes shoulders with the Alpha.

 

“You’re welcome.” She replies with a sweet smile. She watches Lia pull Claran up and kiss him and her smile fades somewhat as she thinks about the visit she had from Elder Clya. She has no idea how she’s going to broach the subject with Lia, or if she even should.

 

 

 

 

 


	19. Committment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright Kip and Lia fans... This here concludes part 2. 
> 
> I'll be resting my noggin a bit as I formulate more of a solid idea of part 3. In the meantime, thank you sooooo much for coming along this journey with me. I've loved writing these two and this world. There are many avenues to explore.
> 
> If you feel compelled to let me know what you'd like to see in part 3, by all means tell me. I'll incorporate it if I can.

Construction of the colony buildings between Huron and Dakota are in full swing and with Kip finally finished rebuilding the damaged section of her shop, goes to help during the day. It’s a bit hard on Lia as she had grown used to having the Alpha close by and around a lot. It was certainly needed those first two months.

 

But she keeps herself busy with the pups and is enjoying her time with Lela, who after the loss of her brother and much to the Omega’s surprise, had reached out to her for comfort and distraction which Lia was able to give in spades with her fondness for Kip’s young Alpha cousin and of course three rambunctious pups that needed constant supervision.

 

“My matra says that Tad and I were such quiet pups when we were little like this. We’d always be together, heads close, like we were exchanging secrets.” The almost twelve year old recalls wistfully.

 

Before, Lela’s story would have sent Lia’s guilt into a tailspin, but with Lela’s gentle but insistent reminding that Tad’s death was in no way her fault over the last month, she just smiles warmly at Lela’s words.

 

“I bet. You two always seem to be conspiring about something.” Lia says as she brings the girl into a side hug.

 

“Yep. I miss him so much.” Lela says quietly. Lia wordlessly brings her into a tighter, full hug.

 

…

 

“What did Lia say?” Rya asks as he hands Kip a bag of nails. She purses her lips and turns her head and looks down at her brother.

 

“I haven’t told her yet.” Kip says and turns back around hoping that will be the end of it.

 

“Well, you better say something to her. Elder Clya is meeting with the widowed Omegas tonight.” Rya reminds, sounding just like their father who had pressed her for a decision only a few hours ago.

 

“I know.” Kip says tersely as she plops the bag of nails down on the roof support and grabs one and starts nailing, effectively ending the conversation.

 

 

…

 

 

Lela hears Kip’s dog barking and hops up from her chair she was sitting in to feed Crit. Lia smiles as the young Alpha races out to greet her.

 

They both come in, and Lia smiles at Lela’s rapid fire questions about what is going on in the new settlement.

 

“Is it true they have people working on trying to build a truck like the one we saw?” Lela asks excitedly. The truck that Rett’s men were riding in when they were captured and killed was presently being taken apart and some of the handy Beta colonists that were resettling in the new colony were working out how it was built and trying to see if they could replicate it and build more.

 

“It is Lela.” Kip answers as she winks at Lia. Lia just smiles as she listens to all the news about the new buildings going up, the prospect of having even larger seasonal festivals with the influx of new people, any thing else Lela can think to ask about the new settlement.

 

Finally, she runs out of questions and Kip volunteers to pack up the wagon with the pups and walk Lela home.

 

“You sure you aren’t too tired?” Lia asks, coming to give Kip the brief but sweet welcome home kiss she’s been wanting to give her for the last ten minutes.

 

“Nah. I’m sure the pups would love a nice little walk.” She says smiling at their dirty little post eating faces.

 

“Okay. I’ll have dinner ready when you come back.” Lia says as she helps to get them out of the feeding chairs and into the wagon. She kisses each of them and gives Lela a big hug. “Thanks for hanging out with us today.” She says sincerely.

 

“No problem. It was fun.” The girl beams as she takes the wagon handle, making Kip shrug and eyes go wide in surprise as Lia chuckles.

 

“She is quite the little pupsitter.” Lia side whispers.

 

“Guess she is.” Kip says, impressed.

 

Lia watches them for a few moments as they walk down the path to the road, admiring Kip’s easy, loose gait and letting her mind wander to when they’ll be in bed tonight as she feels a sudden, heady flush rising from her belly to her neck.

 

“My heat must be coming.” She mumbles to herself. It had been so long since she’s had it, she’d almost forgotten what it feels like coming on. She turns into the house to contemplate how she and Kip are going to deal with it.

 

…

 

 

Kip is walking up to her porch, pulling the wagon behind her, having visited a few minutes with Lela’s parents when Elder Clya calls out to her, asking her to wait up. Kip stops at the foot of her front porch and turns to the Elder.

 

“Kip I need your confirmation so we may proceed. Timing is crucial.” Clya states with an uncharacteristic impatient tone.

 

“I need to discuss it with Lia.” Kip answers evenly.

 

“Fine, let’s go then.” Clya says as she reaches for the door.

 

“No.” Kip says, making the Elder turn and look at her with surprise.

 

She takes a deep breath and looks at her Alpha niece, trying to gauge what is keeping her from fulfilling her duties.

 

“Kip, we need you. Not only our colony, but all the others that are joining us, if we don’t begin building our population back up right _now_ , we won’t have enough to sustain…”

 

“I know that!” Kip barks then claps her jaw shut, eyes darting to her front door.

 

“Lia will understand. This is not about adding another mate or pups to _your_ family or about bonding with another Omega. It’s about our survival. Mating once with an Omega in heat outside our colony will not only strengthen bloodlines, it sets us ALL up for a better future.” Clya implores, trying to reason logically with the Alpha.

 

“You don’t understand. We.. Lia and I.. we aren’t in a place where…” Kip begins to explain but Clya interrupts her.

 

“I know about the rape, Kip.” Clya reveals. Her eyes are sympathetic but steadfast.

 

“Did Lia tell you?” Kip asks weakly. Did she confide in Clya, leaving Kip in the dark? Suddenly Kip felt a wave of hurt at Lia telling Clya about what Rett did to her, leaving her to figure it out for herself.

 

“What better way to claim back your alpha-hood after what happened to you, Kip. Make sure your line lives on nice and strong by gifting another Omega your pups.” Clya states, her eyes searching Kip’s for understanding.

 

Instead, Kip stumbles back in shock. **_My_** _alpha-hood?_ _What happened to **me**? _ Her mind reels.

 

“Who told you, Ty or Dr. Kosack!?” Kip asks through clinched teeth and barely controlled rage. How dare they share that with anyone and how dare her aunt use those moments of absolute terror and humiliation to try and make Kip do something against her will again?

 

Clya ignores her question and anger and continues in a preternaturally calm tone. “Your commitment to this colony, that of a strong blood-lined Alpha and newly appointed elder is predicated on doing whatever is asked of you to ensure our survival. I’d think it would be one of the easier sacrifices one would make for one’s people, Kip.” She finishes, her posture and tone as elder-like as Kip has ever seen and heard.

 

“My commitment to this colony has never wavered, but if me being an elder means I must mate with another Omega other than my own, then I abdicate.” Kip says with finality as she brushes the elder aside and opens the door to wheel in her pups.

 

…

 

Lia rushes away from the door when she hears Kip’s heavy footsteps after hearing her abdicate her elder status. She watches wide-eyed as Kip pulls the pups in quickly but carefully and shuts the door, presumably in Elder Clya’s face.

 

She hasn’t looked up at Lia yet, if she had she’d know immediately that her mate had heard every word.

 

“I’m going to take them in and give them a bath.” Kip says distractedly as she stops for a moment, collecting her thoughts before just wheeling the pups into their bathroom where the tub is.

 

“I’ll come help.” Lia stammers, taking a moment to look out the window in time to see Elder Clya stalking off the porch.

 

Once in the bathroom, Kip strips down and turns on the water, stripping the pups as the tub fills.

 

“You gonna get in there with all three?” Lia asks with amusement as she watches Kip putting them in one by one.

 

“I’ll get it done quicker if you can take them out as I finish with them.” Kip says, still not giving Lia her full attention as she’s still mulling over her conversation with Elder Clya.

 

Lia lets her be, content with letting her own heart war between pride at the way her Alpha stood up for them against not only her aunt, but her elder, and concern at what abdicating elder-hood would mean for Kip. Lia knows, is unprecedented. It carries a lot of responsibilities, naturally, but Kip being an Elder now meant she would be an Elder for several colonies under their new structure, not just Huron. That meant status, great decision making power and unparalleled respect.

 

And she’d given it up in deference to her commitment to her family, to her Omega, without hesitation. 

 

 

Later that night in bed, after dinner with stilted small talk as both women were deep in their own thoughts, Lia presses up against her Alpha’s side, finally feeling it’s time to confess.

 

She turns on her side, props herself up on her elbow and looks deeply into mildly puzzled green eyes. She’d thought long and hard about telling Kip she’d heard the entire conversation, but then she’d realized she’d have to weigh in with her opinion. She’d feel compelled to take that high road and tell Kip it’s okay with her if she needs to fulfill her duties in that capacity, if it meant retaining her new status as elder.

 

Lia knew Kip willingly sacrificed herself for her colony, her commitment above and beyond any others. Being an elder would be the ultimate honor and reward, but Lia had just witnessed with her own ears that Kip had a limit to what she would sacrifice in her commitment and whether it was infinitely selfish of her to let Kip’s decision to abdicate go unchallenged or an act of utter selflessness to not make Kip second guess her decision, Lia didn’t care at the moment. The only thing she cared to do right here, right now, was to fully confess how deeply in love with, proud of and honored to be with her Alpha she was.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this a nice little ending point for now.. however... if I get a consensus on an epilogue of Lia going into heat for the first time in forever and what they decide to do about that... I wouldn't be opposed to writing one... ;)


	20. Epilogue Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, seems I have a bit more to write. It was getting long, so I will be giving you an epilogue in 2 parts. ;)
> 
> Thanks for all of the wonderful comments!

Lia wakes up with a smile as she registers a substantial but comforting weight against her back.

 

After she’d told, or reminded, as the Alpha put it sweetly, how much she loved her and appreciated her for how patient and sweet she had been, she and Kip had finally connected again physically and it was all she’d hoped for after their ordeal - sweet, loving, slow, healing. She sighs contentedly as she remembers.

 

_Lia puts her hand on Kip’s chest and can’t help but let her lips fall into a loving smirk when her mate looks at her with puzzled eyes._

_“You, Kip Holt, are amazing.” She starts, leaning down to peck her lips. She slips back into her original position as she continues. “I grow more in love with you each day. I love how you take care of me, fight for me. You are the best Alpha an Omega could ever hope to be with and such an amazing Matra to our pups..” She continues, smiling at the surprised look on the Alpha’s face that morphs into pride with each word she speaks._

_When she pauses Kip puts her arm around the Omega nudging her to lie on top of her. Lia complies easily and Kip stares into her eyes. Lia sees longing in them, and she hopes her eyes are reflecting the same thing._

_“Can I be with you tonight, Lia?” She asks so tenderly and cautiously it breaks Lia’s heart a little bit. But her answer is easy as she brings herself to a sitting position, straddling Kip’s waist and slipping her nightgown over her head in one quick motion._

_Kip’s breath catches in her throat as her fingers tremble to caress every inch of skin her eyes lay upon. Lia takes her big strong callused hands and brings them to her lips, kissing her fingertips one by one and then placing them on her breasts where her nipples spring to life at her Alpha’s touch._

_“Lia…” Kip breathes out like a prayer._

_“Touch me, Kip. I won’t break.” Lia reassures her, now feeling wetness pool and spill onto Kip’s thin pajama pants. She rises slightly and Kip reaches for the waistband shoving them off clumsily until she’s kicking them to the ground. Lia comes back down, gasping when Kip’s semi-erect penis makes contact in between her outer lips and ass._

_Kip groans low in her chest as her hands go to Lia’s thighs. Lia leans over slightly, unbuttoning Kip’s night-shirt, throwing it open so she can caress her torso and breasts. She leans further still to give Kip a searing, deep kiss to let her know she is more than ready for her touch. Mentally, physically, emotionally. She scoots down a bit and takes each of Kip’s nipples in turn, making the Alpha moan softly._

_“Come here and let me taste you.” Kip says and Lia takes a few more seconds with Kip’s nipples before moving up to straddle her face. She feels the scars of Kip’s bicep wound against the outside of her thigh and reaches down to caress them, trying to instill new memories over the old ones. She looks down into Kip’s needy, shiny eyes as she sinks down upon her tongue, sucking in a breath as Kip pushes her tongue into her gently and then with more force, sucking and kissing until Lia is gently riding out an orgasm._

_She slides down after a moment and leaving a dripping trail down Kip’s chin, sternum and stomach until her lips are poised right above her stiff tip. She smiles playfully bringing the collar of Kip’s night shirt to her lips and chin, wiping them off some before pressing her chest to hers and kissing her deeply, tasting her essence on her Alpha’s tongue._

_She pulls back and sees that Kip’s eyes are nearly black with need but she puts her hands on Lia’s hips and tells her its okay if she doesn’t want to go any further._

_“Oh, Kip. This is what I need. You to fill me. Only you.” She says fervently as she pushes down gently and steadily until her vagina swallows Kip’s cock all the way. Kip’s hips thrust forward instinctually and she grabs Lia’s hips as her head slams back into her pillow._

_“Kip? Are you okay?” Lia asks worriedly._

_“Yes… You just feel so damn good.” Kip gets out in a strained sigh. It’s almost like their first time again and Lia gets nostalgic for a moment as she begins a slow, gentle rocking._

_“I loved how tender you were with me, our first time. Do you remember that?” Lia asks with a sexy, playful smile._

_“Like it was yesterday. Outside of meeting you and you giving me three beautiful pups, it is my favorite memory.” Kip answers honestly._

_“As it is mine.” She says in a distracted whisper as she begins to really enjoy that sweet tickle in her lower belly whenever Kip is inside her. She licks her lips to moisten them as she swears all of the moisture in her body has headed south._

_As she looks into Kip’s loving, reverent eyes, the memory of Rett on top of her, violating her, slips away and is replaced by this strong, brave Alpha underneath her, loving her, bringing her unparalleled pleasure._

_Her hands, that had been lightly grasping Kip’s shoulders as she rocked, slide to her abdomen as they brush lightly as she balances more on her legs, beginning to bounce with a little more enthusiasm._

_Kip’s eyes close and her jaw juts out in concentration and Lia can feel the base of her cock forming its knot. Lia leans forward again, both knowing they don’t have the time nor really the energy for knotting tonight. This was all about taking that first physical step in healing each other, not their mating instincts taking hold right now._

_Normally, it would be Kip who would reach down and grasp the base of her cock so the knot wouldn’t enter Lia, but Lia takes on the task, leaning so she’s nearly parallel with Kip’s body and reaching between them to grasp the base._

_“Oh…” Kip grunts comically and it makes Lia giggle despite her quickly approaching orgasm. She gasps at the feeling of slamming into her own fist as she comes down on Kip’s cock. Soon though, Kip is meeting her with her own thrusts as her impending orgasm comes careening through her loins. For a few seconds all you can hear is the wet, slapping sound of Kip’s cock pistoning in and out of Lia’s pussy and their breasts meeting and pressing into each other rhythmically and after three more strong thrusts Kip is emptying into Lia, her mouth forming an ‘O’ as she sucks in a deep breath at the sensation._

_Lia sinks down onto her chest and covers her lips with her own, moaning steadily as Kip slows at just the right rhythm to send her over the edge as well. For a few seconds she pulls her lips away and sighs into Kip’s as Kip’s hands go to the back of Lia’s head, pulling her just far enough away to look deeply into her eyes as both move against each other, enjoying the fading tendrils of their orgasms, marveling at the pleasure they’ve just brought each other._

_When they both stop moving, Lia removes her hand from Kip’s softening cock and collapses fully onto her, lying her head on her collarbone with a deep, heavy, sated sigh._

_“I love you, my Omega.” Kip turns to whisper in her ear. Lia just nods, too spent to speak, but her arms slide under the Alpha’s shoulders and she squeezes tightly as a happy tear slides down her cheek._

Lia is brought out of her reminiscing with a warm hand reaching around her midsection followed by a squeeze.

 

“Good morning.” She hears mumbled into her hair and she smiles, trying to turn to look at her beloved but finds herself pinned. She has a tiny second of panic, but it is quickly washed away when Kip rolls off of her only to bring the Omega with her.

 

She giggles as she tries to flip around so she can face the Alpha. Finally after some awkward moves and an elbow to the gut, they are righted and Lia is lying on the Alpha, nose to nose.

 

“Last night was amazing, Kip. Thank you.” She says, bringing a hand up to stroke her cheek.

 

Kip lifts her lips to put a kiss to the Omega’s nose and then captures her lips in a chaste kiss. “I should be thanking you.” Kip growls playfully as she pushes her flaccid cock into Lia’s pelvis.

Lia slides off before it gets any ideas. She has an important errand to run and she needs to be focused when she does it.

 

“Come on, let’s get our little devils up.” Lia says as she reaches a hand out to her mate who looks like she has no intention of leaving the bed. Kip grabs it but instead of using it to sit up, she pulls Lia back down on top of her causing her to laugh and squeal.

 

“KIP!” She shouts playfully as the Alpha wraps her arms around her. She stills her with a deep, meaningful kiss that instantly slows the Omega’s movements to get up. They get lost in it for a few moments and Lia begins to feel tightness in her belly. She pulls back and gets an apprehensive look in her eyes. She knows her heat is coming and despite how much she enjoyed last night, with everything that has happened, the thought of having another litter in nine months terrifies her and she can’t bring herself to tell Kip.

 

“My heat is coming.” She states quietly, knowing there’s no way she can hide it. She feels guilty as Kip studies her and she knows she’s trying to gauge what she’s thinking.

 

“It’s been a long time, huh?” Kip says, trying to sound encouraging. Lia nods, but doesn’t say anything. She slowly slides off Kip and stands next to the bed.

 

“I’m not holding my hand out again, Alpha.” She smirks and slaps Kip’s naked hip, trying to lighten the heaviness that has come into the room. Kip grumbles, but then gives a cocky grin as she moves into a slow, languid stretch that has Lia nearly drooling as she watches her Alpha’s muscles shift and ripple under her skin.

 

She rolls her eyes and stalks off to the bathroom, smiling as Kip’s hearty laugh fills the bedroom.

 

…

 

 _Finally._ Lia thinks as she stands up from the chair on Elder Clya’s porch. She watches the older Alpha amble up the few steps, not seeing Lia until she was nearly upon her.

 

“Lia.” She says with a warm smile, holding her arms out for a hug. Lia tenses as her arms go around her, thinking back to the conversation she’d heard last night. She’d been very angry with the elder for what she had said to Kip last night and though she might be making _her_ Alpha angry by what she was about to do, she’d made a decision, and she was going to see it through.

 

When they pull apart from the hug, the elder’s face turns serious. She knows the Omega isn’t here for a friendly visit.

 

“Have a seat.” She says, gesturing to the chair Lia had just vacated as she takes the seat adjacent to it.

 

“I guess Kip talked to you about protocol mating?” Elder Clya asks rhetorically.

 

“No actually, she didn’t. I overheard your conversation.” Lia states evenly. Elder Clya’s eyes go wide for a second and then she sighs.

 

“Then you know how important it is that she do this.” Clya says as she sits back in her chair.

 

“Who else have you asked to do this?” Lia inquires.

 

“Asked? We don’t ask. Alphas volunteer. It’s understood that when we face a critical reduction in population, everyone does their part.” The elder states matter-of-fact. “Every colony that joined the battle lost a significant amount of Alphas and even some Beta males. We must begin replenishing our population- in all colonies- or we will not survive. This is also a perfect opportunity to strengthen our gene pool by mating with those outside our colonies. You must understand that, Lia.” She says, trying to get to her logical side, just like she tried with Kip last night.

 

And perhaps if they hadn’t endured what they had, she would be okay with it. Not happy about it, by any means, but she’d understand. But they _had_ gone through it and were still coming out the other side and Lia knew in her heart she couldn’t handle what Elder Clya was asking Kip to do.

 

“I understand. But _you_ must understand that we do have our limits. A relationship has its limits. Kip has sacrificed _everything_ for her colony and she will continue to do so. _I_ will sacrifice for this colony, my home.   But this is one thing you cannot ask us to do, not right now.”

 

Elder Clya studies the young Omega, and can’t help but admire the woman she has become. Her impassioned argument tears at her heart, but as an elder, she must look at the bigger picture. It is what she expected of Kip before she was summarily shut down last night.

 

She’s about to speak on how this shouldn’t be looked at as a sacrifice when Lia shifts in her seat and clears her throat.

 

“When Rett took me, he set fire to the cellar. He’d meant to burn everyone in there to death. My pups, your grandchildren. When he tied me up and threw a hood over my head, I thought my pups were dead.” Lia starts in a monotone voice. Elder Clya closes her eyes, thinking about her grandson, Tad, who indeed did perish in that fire.

 

“He took me back to his camp, intent on breeding me until I died.” She continues. “But then Kip came, and I thought, I’m saved.” She looks at the elder with a sad smile as she recalls her momentary joy at seeing her mate come to her rescue.

 

“But Kip’s gun ran out of bullets, right when she was going to put one through Rett’s skull.” She pauses, steeling herself for the rest of the story she hadn’t told anyone. Only she and Kip knew the whole story. “He had two Alphas beat her down and drag her away. She was already weak from fever from her arm wound, you know. They chained her up, drove a knife through her arm wound, pinning her to a crate, stripped off her trousers and savagely raped her while choking her to death with her own belt.”

 

The elder’s head drops, no longer able to look at the Omega as she hears the details of what happened to her strong, brave Alpha niece.

 

“When Kip finally succumbed to being choked, they all took turns laughing and spitting on her. When Rett tied me up, threw me onto his horse and we left the camp, I thought Kip was dead. When those animals stopped for the night, the first thing Rett did was drag me off into the woods and rape me. I was terrified and it hurt.. hurt so much, but it was nothing compared to the pain of thinking I’d lost my entire family. My beloved and my pups.” She’s wiping tears from her eyes, but her voice doesn’t waver.

 

“I understand the necessity to make sure our gene pool is strong. I know we need to rebuild our population. But asking Kip to lie with someone else other than her chosen soul-bonded mate would destroy her. It would destroy me. Kip is going to be an incredible elder. We will give you plenty of offspring. Please don’t ask this of us and please don’t hold it against her.”

 


	21. Anchor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here's part 2. Thank you all for being awesome. See you soon.

Lia returns home and is surprised to find the house empty. She walks through to the back of the property, thinking Kip has taken the pups with her to feed the animals, but she sees the stalls have been cleaned and animals fed already.

 

She makes the short walk to the shop and can hear the screaming before she even steps foot on the porch.

 

“What is going on?” Lia mumbles in concern as she sees Risa crawling towards the door, completely naked and determined. She picks her up, ready to lay into Kip when the smell assaults her nose. She sees that Risa’s bottom is covered with poo. She beelines it to Kip’s work table and sees Crit squirming around as Kip tries to pin a clean diaper on. Claran is standing holding onto Kip’s leg, his diaper sagging with poo as well that was running down his leg.

 

“What happened?” Lia calls to her mate as she surveys the scene on the floor of a makeshift playpen while holding her nose with the hand that isn’t supporting Risa. It is obvious that all three had diarrhea and at least one of them had taken off their soiled diaper and painted the unfinished wood floor with it.

 

“I… uh… was trying to get some work done and thought I could leave them for a minute while I got something out of my supply cabinet. It was the wrong move.” Kip says distractedly as she finally gets Crit’s diaper on. “Can you…” She asks as she holds him down by his belly so he doesn’t flip over and crawl off the end as she tries to reach for Claran. Lia springs into action and takes the clean pup and puts Risa on the table so she can get a diaper on her. Lia takes Crit to the wagon in the corner and secures him inside before coming back, grabbing Claran, deciding to forgo trying to change him there and take him straight to the house.

 

Lia takes the two in the wagon as Kip just shakes her head dismissively and scoops up the dirty naked female pup and follows her out the door and back to the house.

 

“Go put them in the tub, but don’t fill it. We have to rinse them off first.” Lia says, mild annoyance evident in her tone. Kip does what she is told and takes all three and places them in the tub, making sure to take off Claran and Crit’s diapers and wrap them in a towel.

 

Lia brings a couple of medium sized buckets of warm water and begins to pour them down the pups’ backsides as Kip holds them up. Lia can’t hold onto her irritation for long though as the pups coo and giggle at the sensation.

 

Finally all three are rinsed and Kip plugs the tub and starts the water for a shallow bath.

 

“Uh, Lia… you kinda smell too.” Kip says cautiously when she sees all of Lia’s forearm covered with poo.

 

Lia looks at it and sighs. She turns to her mate and levels her with a stare. “What did you feed them this morning?” She asks.

 

“The berry puree.” She says as if the answer is obvious.

 

“The one that was sitting out on the counter?” Lia asks hesitantly. She had meant to throw it out last night.

 

“I thought you left it out for us this morning.” Kip shrugs.

 

Lia shakes her head and lets out a rueful chuckle. The whole thing was her fault it seemed.

 

Instead of admitting it though, she just leans in and gives her Alpha a long, sweet kiss. When she pulls away, Kip looks at her suspiciously.

 

“I’ll finish bathing them and then get myself cleaned up. You should head back to your shop. I have a feeling you’ll have to do some floor sanding again.” Lia smiles sheepishly. _And I have a feeling this isn’t the last of the baths for these three. S_ he sighs internally.

 

 

Instead of heading back to the shop though, Kip makes her way to the infirmary, where she had planned to go after Lia had come back. Lia’s heat was just around the corner and Kip had a feeling that the Omega might not want to be impregnated, at least not this cycle. It made her sad, but she completely understood her reluctance. She also knew it would compound her decision to not mate with another Omega, but she didn’t care. Her priority right now is her beloved and if she wants to avoid pregnancy this cycle, she would honor that. She and she alone would deal with the consequences later.

 

She walks in and immediately locates Ty sitting at her desk writing something. She approaches but doesn’t sit. “I need to talk to you.” She says by way of greeting. She’s still pretty upset that either her or Kosack told Elder Clya about her rape.

 

Ty looks up and her face falls, answering Kip’s internal question instantly. Kip bristles, but remains calm. “Can we talk out back?” Kip asks and Ty nods, getting up slowly.

 

They wait until the door closes behind them. Ty starts to speak, but Kip cuts her off. “I need a round of Queen Anne’s lace.” She says evenly.

 

Ty’s head snaps back. “You know I’m forbidden…” She starts but is cut off again.

 

“I don’t care what you are forbidden to give out. You owe me for divulging information about me you had no business sharing as a doctor.” Kip states tersely as she stares down the doctor, someone she’s trusted her entire life.

 

“Kip, you know with protocol mating in effect that I can’t administer any of it. It’s breaking the law.” She says, but her mouth clamps shut when she realizes that in telling Clya about Kip’s rape, she has done the same thing.

 

Kip sees in her eyes the exact moment she realizes her own mistake. Kip’s eyes ease a bit, but her voice is steely, resolute. “Unless you want to be the new traveling animal doctor until the end of your days, you will give me what I asked for.”

 

…

 

 

Late into the night, almost at daybreak, Lia wakes to a slight fever. She closes her eyes in discomfort when she immediately realizes she’s in full-blown heat. She turns to find that Kip is not there and half of her is glad for it. She feels ashamed about not wanting to have sex, but she has no idea how to ask Kip to help her get through heat without mating her. With the length of time that has gone by, she knows Kip’s rut will be very, very strong as well.

 

Assuming Kip is probably up taking care of the pups, she decides to get up and take a cool shower, hoping it will take the edge off for a bit.

 

When she comes out of the bathroom in her bathrobe she sees Kip is in bed and she can smell the Alpha’s pheromones keenly. “Come here Lia.” She softly commands and Lia obeys. She’s surprised when Kip turns on her side to face her instead of getting on top of her when she disrobes and lies on her back.

 

“Heat pretty bad?” Kip asks needlessly. She could smell the Omega from across the house as she was settling the pups back down to sleep after a quick diaper change and a bottle of milk each. She wanted to make sure they had some time to be together.

 

Lia just nods and turns to her side as well, giving Kip a small smile. She puts her hand to her cheek and strokes her face gently, coming in slowly for a deep kiss.

 

Kip feels her cock get even harder than it already had been when she first caught Lia’s scent. It ached to be inside her Omega now, but she had to say something first to put her hurting Omega at ease.

 

She breaks the kiss and turns around, grabbing a packet of something and then setting it between them. Lia looks at it, puzzled.

 

“Queen Anne’s lace.” She says, knowing Lia needs no explanation as to what it is for.

 

Lia looks up at her in utter surprise. “Where did you get that?” She asks, alarmed. She knows it is against the law for the next two years.

 

“Someone owed me a big favor.” Kip replies. She puts her finger under Lia’s chin to get her attention and her eyes are soft and full of understanding.

 

“You just take a pinch of the seeds and chew them once a day for seven days. We can wait until you are ready. I don’t want you to do anything against your will again.” Kip says solemnly.

 

Lia takes the seeds and looks at them and then at Kip in wonder. She’s completely taken aback by Kip’s gesture and her heart begins to pound in her chest, making it hard to breathe. Kip is risking exile by giving her these and it blows Lia’s mind. And just like that, her decision is made, wholeheartedly.

 

“Oh, Kip…” She cries, her heart overflowing with love and awe for her beloved. Kip interprets it as gratefulness and tries valiantly to hide her mild disappointment that her seed will not find purchase in her mate these next few days. But she’d rather deal with the disappointment than have her Omega suffer the burden of carrying a litter she doesn’t want to.

 

Suddenly, the need to have Kip inside Lia becomes overwhelming and she takes the seed packet and swings around quickly to place it on her nightstand.

 

She turns and makes a small, desperate noise as she covers Kip’s lips with her own and it is all the provocation Kip needs as she covers the Omega’s body with her own, sliding midway between her legs, she kisses her breasts a bit roughly, tugging on her nipples until Lia gasps and pushes Kip’s head down towards her center. Kip gives a few kisses to her belly before she settles between Kip’s thighs, wrapping her lips around her clit hungrily and tonguing her until Lia cries out with an orgasm.

 

She barely slows down though as she presses her tongue into her and sucks the copious amounts of wetness that comes pouring out of the Omega. Lia finally tugs on the Alpha’s hair, bringing her up and up until Kip is nose to nose with her.

 

“Give me your seed, Alpha.” She growls desperately and Kip’s head pulls back, eyes blazing with need and confusion at the same time.

 

“I’m a bit frightened Kip, that much is true. I don’t feel one hundred percent ready to have pups again, but I can’t take you for granted again. I will not purposely deny your gift of life. I came so close to losing you, Kip. So, please… I need…”

 

Kip’s heart swells to near bursting as her eyes turn questioning, pleading. Lia reads them easily. “I’m sure. You are my Alpha and I am your Omega. Breed me, beloved. I’ll be honored to carry your pups again.”

 

And with that, Kip crashes their lips together and grasps her cock and pushes inside her Omega. Lia lets out a cry as her knees widen and go up until they are almost up to Kip’s armpits.

 

Kip pulls away to look into Lia’s eyes as she pushes in and pulls out steadily, desperately. “That’s it, Alpha, fill me up. Only you can satisfy this ache inside me.” Lia whispers to her beloved as Kip’s head drops next to Lia’s and she begins thrusting in earnest.

 

Lia’s arms wrap around her Alpha just under her shoulders, her own thighs bumping the outside of her arms. Kip shoves her right arm under Lia’s shoulder to grasp the edge of the bed for leverage and reaches blindly with her left until she has a hold of Lia’s right hand bringing it down and pinning it to the bed, intertwining their fingers.

 

They are both sweating profusely as Kip steady climbs to orgasm. She feels her knot form and pushes in, holding it there as Lia sighs loudly at the sensation. Her thrusts become shorter in deference to her knot and Lia pulls her down so she can cradle the Alpha’s head as she lets out a deep, keening cry as she cums inside her Omega, hard.

 

Lia moans at the feeling of Kip’s warm seed splashing all over her cervix and filling her entire center, she comes at the sensation, seeing stars as her walls convulse rhythmically. Kip spasms for a few long seconds as her chest heaves deeply against Lia’s, eyes locked on each others, breathing in the same air as their lips are only centimeters apart. No words need to be exchanged, their bodies are doing it for them. Kip finally stills and collapses all together, spent and sweaty.

 

Lia strokes her hair and plants feather kisses on her eyelids, nose and cheeks as the Alpha pants and squeezes Lia’s hand she’s still holding, anchoring them to earth and each other.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
